Grand Bay Church Still Searches For Bell

One parishioner from St. John the Baptist Catholic Church says he’s travelled more than one-thousand miles since April in search of the missing brass bell. He doesn't want his face or name known. He says he doesn’t want the thief to get wise if he stumbles into the right place.

“Well I've searched the scrap yards flea markets, yard sales from Texas to Pensacola Florida,” he says. In a daring heist, thieves swiped the bell from high atop the church tower days before Easter. Since then, the church has posted a one-thousand dollar, no-questions-asked reward.

“Well we used to ring it on Saturdays and Sunday we just really do miss it,” says parishioner Phillip Marchand. Father Warren Wall says the church has received an outpouring of local support since the theft.

“Some people have offered us donations to go out and buy a new bell but most of the people would rather have their old bell back rather than get a new bell,” says Wall. The old bell weighs hundreds of pounds and is made entirely from brass. If you can help out, you’re asked to call the church office at 251-865-6902 or 251- 865-6620. I first reported this story back in April.