The saga of Cranium Command’s Buzzy continues!

Now Disney’s missing items total value has jumped to $500k!!

Last year it was reported that Buzzy, and his clothes, were missing from the closed Cranium Command show floor at the Wonders of Life pavilion. The attractions inside have been closed for years, but the building was still used for festivals until recently.

When the theft was noticed it was immediately reported to the proper authorities.

Not long after investigators turned their attention to Patrick Spikes, a former Disney employee that ran the Back Door Disney Twitter and Youtube.

Initially he was questioned but released, and through investigations later  gathered enough evidence against Spikes and his cousin, Blaytin Taunton, to arrest them and file charges in relation to stolen Haunted Mansion and other Walt Disney World items. Now it seems they have enough to apparently tie him to Buzzy too.

So how does the Milwaukee Bucks center Robin Lopez fit into this?

It seems that he and a friend, Brett Finley, were the ones that unknowingly purchased some of these items from Spikes.

According to the Orlando Sentinel Lopez had items in his possession.

“Audio exchanges from April between Orange County sheriff’s investigators and Finley, a certified public accountant who met Lopez through Disney’s exclusive membership-only Club 33, provided details about how they got there.”

“We had a call with Patrick … Robin and I both … The first question Robin asked, ‘Was any of this stuff stolen?’ [Spikes] said, ‘No, it’s not,'” Finley told authorities.

“It’s really frustrating that you get scammed into these things,” Finley went on to say. “If it’s not legit, we don’t want it. [Lopez], he’s a high-profile, like you said. I’m a CPA. I have a family.”

But now the case isn’t just the almost $30k via paypal (that was noted before and now it listed as including the stolen Buzzy clothes) it’s now up to $500,000 against the alleged thieves, with items that include Buzzy himself!

It isn’t just Lopez and Finley now either, apparently “An Orlando attorney is also reportedly a victim in the case…”

This is getting curious-er and curious-er.

I’m not saying they did it knowingly, but most Disney fans know about Buzzy going missing. The Haunted Mansion stuff I can totally see not knowing. Pieces like those go up for sale legitimately and could be totally legal, but the Buzzy news was all over the place?

One would wonder how they didn’t know?

Keep in mind the theft wasn’t discovered right away and charges were filed months ago. It could be that they didn’t know and notified authorities when they found out. Or they somehow missed the news entirely. But we do know the Sheriff’s office seems certain that they aren’t suspects in this case and they are cooperating with investigators:

“The sheriff’s investigators stressed both the former Stanford center and Finley were victims. Finley might need to file a civil lawsuit to reclaim the money lost after unknowingly buying the stolen items for his collection, they told him, according to the audio. No lawsuit appears to have been filed yet.” – Orlando Sentinel

If they want their money back, they have to file a civil lawsuits against the alleged thieves.

But even more interesting was that the clothing was removed from Buzzy to go to the Disney archives and they never got there, and it went unnoticed.

I have a headache just trying to follow along. Between the missing Haunted Mansion items and Buzzy items, this case has more twists and turns than the Disney mountains.

We will continue to try to update you and make sense of it as it progresses. It’s messier than a melted candy apple on a hot Florida day.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!

Source: Orlando Sentinel, Sports.Yahoo