CSN’s hospitality management department missing doughboy

Stop. Everything.

There is a Facebook post we have to tell you about.

Around lunchtime Friday, the College of Southern Nevada posted an urgent plea. Its Pillsbury Doughboy was missing.

"Although no ransom demands have been received to date, he may be a victim of some cruel, insidious kidnapping plot," the post speculated. Wildly.

AGE: 15

HEIGHT: 4 feet tall

WEIGHT: He's made of Styrofoam.

The post included a photograph and a phone number for the community college's department of hospitality management, one of the top-ranked programs in the country. It has 3,500 students and is always too full to accommodate everyone who wants in.

It's where Chef Tom Rosenberger is the department chair.

"We're just worried he's going to get turned into 10,000 Styrofoam coffee cups or something," Rosenberger said.

He did not laugh.

The doughboy was a prize Rosenberger won in a charity golf tournament about 15 years ago.

The doughboy was on the fourth hole, just standing there, minding his own business.

If a golfer hit him, he won him.

"And I hit him," the chef said. Right under the eye. It left a dent in his removable head.

Rosenberger brought him to the college, where the culinary program he oversees runs Russell's Restaurant.

The restaurant is used as a training and development center for the students, who work the kitchen and the dining room.

The restaurant is open to the public for lunch Tuesday through Friday and for dinner Thursday nights.

It was the perfect place for the doughboy to hang out.

There he sat, atop a wine rack.

He was occasionally trotted out for events such as rush week for the school's culinary club.

But mostly, the doughboy was just a conversation piece. Like a cornucopia. Or an ice sculpture.

Doughboy was there last semester. But Rosenberger said he doesn't think he has seen him since early December. He noticed just the other day that his friend was missing.

He hasn't got a clue what happened. Or when, exactly.

The few security tapes that exist didn't help.

"They've reviewed the tapes," he said, "and they haven't seen anything."

The restaurant is often unlocked during the day.

And although the school doesn't start until next week, there have been people on campus. Professors, staff, students, all getting ready for school.

So, for now, everyone's a suspect.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.