Reward offered for wandering frog

MOSES LAKE - He was just a frog, sitting alone in a field; he may have looked abandoned, but he has a family that wants him back.

In fact his family is offering a reward for his return.

The frog belongs to Mike Lender and his wife, currently residents of Marysville but in the process of moving to Moses Lake. He was an anniversary present for Leader's wife, who wanted a garden statue, he said.

The frog is definitely a statue - he's solid granite and weighs about 700 pounds, Leader said. "We've had him for 15 years," he said, and for all that time he sat in the garden of the family home.

When they decided to move to Moses Lake they purchased property on Road K.8, next to an already-developed lot. The house isn't completed yet, but they're in the process of starting the move, so the frog came to Moses Lake.

But there was one catch. Leader said he has some storage on the back part of his property, but he didn't want to drive to the back through the dry weeds, because of the fire danger. So he left the frog statue up front, close to the road.

He said he thought the frog would stay where he was. "I thought, 'Nobody will take that. It's just too heavy,'" he said. He described the frog as about 2 feet tall, about 18 inches wide and "690-some pounds."

But when he returned to Moses Lake the frog was gone. He discovered the loss about Aug. 15, he said, but the frog had been sitting there for a couple weeks.

"There can't be another one like that in Moses Lake," he said. He's offering a $100 reward for the frog's safe return.

Anyone who might have information about the statue is asked to contact Lender, 425-308-5934.