The parents of a 5-year-old boy who died of cancer are pleading for the return of a commemorative statue stolen from a park dedicated to his memory.
For the past six years, a life-size bronze replica of Jake Duque has stood atop a concrete platform in a Miami Lakes park named in his honor. Jake, who died in 2020 after battling diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma—an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer—became a symbol of hope for thousands of followers known as “Jakey’s Army.”
His parents, Karen and Orlando Duque, said they were in disbelief when they received a phone call Saturday morning informing them the 44-inch-tall statue was gone…