Breaking news: Manchester Museum investigates shocking disappearance
Manchester Museum staff are investigating a shocking disappearance. Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex has gone missing from its plinth in the Fossils and Dinosaurs gallery.
At 12 metres long and 3.7 metres tall, Stan is roughly the size of a double decker bus and has been on display at the Museum since 2004.
A dinosaur hunt is underway but staff are struggling to understand how a beast of such mind-boggling proportions could have slipped out of the building undetected.
Follow our live blog below for the latest updates as this situation develops.
Tuesday 20:27 BST
Search to continue throughout the night
The search for Stan will continue throughout the night and we’ll keep you posted if we receive any updates. In the hope of luring Stan out, Museum staff got hold of a job lot of hot dog sausages and have laid them strategically around Oxford Road. Please refrain from walking your dog in the area while this sophisticated operation is underway.
Tuesday 19:54 BST
Reports of noise disturbance
There have been numerous reports of regular booming noises in the area around Manchester Museum but most people we have spoken to wrote it off as local celebrity Boombox Barry doing his usual rounds. “I did think Barry was doing a few more journeys than usual,” said one member of the public we spoke to.
Tuesday 19:41 BST
“I just thought it was probably a big dog”
We have spoken to a member of the public at the scene who may have been witness to the moment of Stan’s disappearance.
“I was walking along Oxford Road playing Pokémon GO and had just caught myself a Snorlax when I saw a creature leg it across the road. At first, I got a bit confused about the boundaries between fantasy and reality and threw my phone in its direction, thinking it was a Poké Ball. By the time I realised it was real, it had disappeared between the buildings across the road, so I just thought it was probably a big dog. My next-door neighbour’s got an Irish Wolfhound that’s absolutely massive. I once saw it eat an 18kg box of dog food in about three bites.”
Tuesday 19:06 BST
Police scouring the area
Police are working with staff at Manchester Museum to scour the surrounding area for clues related to Stan’s disappearance. An empty mince packet was recovered close to the entrance to Whitworth Hall at the University of Manchester but there were no further signs to suggest Stan was nearby. Police are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the disappearance to come forward and have shared this recent picture of Stan.
Tuesday 18:45 BST
CCTV footage leaves Museum staff baffled
CCTV footage has now been shared, showing the moment of Stan’s disappearance from Manchester Museum. It appears Stan left the same way as almost every other visitor to the Museum… through the front door. The scarpering T. rex also appeared to be wearing something that we were not able to properly make out on the grainy footage.
“He is clearly remarkably fleet of foot for a 12-metre-long prehistoric beast,” said a Museum spokesperson.
Tuesday 18:10 BST
Police join hunt for missing dino
Police are in attendance at Manchester Museum, where the search for Stan continues. Currently, attending officers have no solid leads. There are no signs of break in and only minor damage to structures within the Museum.
The only clue found so far is a copy of the Michael Crichton novel The Lost World, left open on the tenth chapter of the Sixth Configuration, and a catalogue for budget-friendly getaways within the UK.
Tuesday 17:47 BST
Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex has disappeared
Manchester Museum staff are investigating a shocking disappearance. Stan, the famous Tyrannosaurus rex that’s star of the show in their Fossils and Dinosaurs gallery has gone missing from its plinth.
“I was sitting in the staff room enjoying a reheated cheese and onion pasty when I saw ripples in my glass of water and heard a constant booming noise,” said Manchester Museum staff member Colin Lector. “At first I thought the University of Manchester graduation celebrations next door were getting a bit rowdy and it was only when I realised the 12-pack of sausages, ribeye steak, whole roast chicken and family size carton of mince I’d bought for this week’s tea had gone missing that I started to suspect something was up.”
After Museum staff launched an exhaustive search for Colin’s shopping, they realised Stan had gone missing from his plinth.