Giant Tooth Balloon Goes Rogue In Northwest Suburbs
(CBS) -- There's a tooth on the loose in the northwest suburbs.
"Mickey the Molar," a 10-foot-by-10-foot hot-air balloon shaped like a tooth -- and 17-year staple at the Founders' Day Parade in Algonquin -- has disappeared up, up and away. The balloon was a mascot for Dr. Timothy Stirneman's All Smiles Dental practice in Algonquin for nearly 20 years.
Mickey was filled with helium on Friday in preparation for weekend festivities when he blew away.
He apparently "just decided he was ready to go," says Katie Stirneman of All Smiles Dental.
Mickey should be easy to spot floating through the sky: He has two arms giving the "thumbs up" and was last seen traveling toward Wisconsin.
Stirneman says the dental office has a sense of humor about what happened but would like to get the balloon back, and there are safety concerns as well.
"I called the police right away. And my other concern was airplanes, because I don't know how high he was going to go," she says. "My hope is that he just comes down someone finds him and then we get him back, but I don't know what the likelihood of that is."
If you have a line on Mickey, please contact All Smiles Dental at (847) 915-6204. The owner is offering a $500 reward.