SANTA ANA : Statue Back in Place to Nuns’ Relief

With a beloved statue of the Blessed Mother of Guadalupe returned, Sister Isabel Diaz breathed a sigh of relief Thursday.

“We thank God that the police found the statue,” Diaz said, while two Santa Ana police officers positioned the white, 5-foot-tall figure just outside the front door of the Poor Clare Missionaries nursery school on Newhope Street.

The $3,500 statue was stolen Monday. Two suspects--Nalaina Hunt, 18, of Fountain Valley and Jason Alejos, 19, of Anaheim--were arrested Wednesday night after police acted on a tip and traced a vehicle to Hunt’s address, police investigator David Salceda said.

“Both suspects were very remorseful. They didn’t know (the theft) would result in all the media attention,” Salceda said.

Items associated with satanic rituals--including markers taken from the graves of infants, candles and a black cloth used to shroud the walls of the home--were also recovered. The statue was found at Alejos’ home in the 1800 block of La Palma Avenue.

But Salceda played down the importance of the satanic objects, saying the suspects wanted only to decorate their home with the statue and apparently used the other items as symbols.

“We don’t believe they’re ritualistic or involved in Santeria,” Salceda said, referring to religious practices that combine ancient African beliefs and Roman Catholicism.

The Poor Clare Missionaries order was founded in Mexico in 1951 by Mother Maria Ines T. Arias. The order has about 450 nuns worldwide.

The statue represents the patron saint of Mexico, so its theft resulted in widespread community interest, especially among Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, police said.

It is a replica of a miraculous image that witnesses said appeared in 1531 in present-day Mexico City.

When told that the statue was briefly in a home and part of a strange collection of tombstones and other satanic symbols, Sister Isabel said, “That’s terrible,” then added: “But we are not afraid of that.”

The figure was installed by the nuns at their nursery school about 10 months ago. It was reported missing Monday about 11:30 p.m., when it was unbolted from its pedestal and placed in the trunk of a car, Salceda said.

On Thursday, Patricia Stelle, 23, was at the nursery school when the statue was returned. Stelle, who had spotted the suspects’ vehicle while driving by, said she saw something large wrapped in a cloth in the trunk.

“It looked peculiar, and I jotted the license number of the car down,” Stelle said.

“At the time, I didn’t even know they had a statue here at the nursery.”

But the next day, when she drove by and noticed a TV camera crew parked in front of the school and read about the theft in a newspaper, she made the connection and called police.

Charges of grand theft are expected to be filed against the suspects, Salceda said.