Cops at Shore town wish this witness could talk

The 20-pound bust is of an older man, his hair combed back and parted sharply, sideburns pronounced, brow furrowed.

But police in Ventnor, N.J., don't know whom the bust depicts and to whom it belongs.

Since November, when an officer found it sitting along the Boardwalk, no one has claimed it or reported it missing.

Now, with beachgoers returning to their summer homes, police hope that will change.

"It's a beautiful piece," Capt. Douglas Biagi said. "It's amazing."

The bust, more than a foot tall, offers few clues other than the word HILDA written next to the number 72. Investigators have been unable to determine the meaning of either. A Google search of the word Hilda yielded no clue.

Police have handed out fliers and notified other departments about the piece. Two weeks ago, with the investigation having hit a dead end, Ventnor police also put an image of the sculpture on Facebook, Biagi said.

Biagi estimates that thousands of people have since viewed it. And still, not a peep from the owner.

"We've gotten nothing back," he said. "It's bizarre."

The officer who discovered it was doing a routine check for burglaries, which spike in the fall after people leave their summer homes, Biagi said.

Police suspect that the bust was taken from one of those homes, and that the owner hasn't returned since he or she left last year.

In terms of whom the bust looks like, "everybody has their own idea," Biagi said. One person suggested Luca Brasi from The Godfather. Another said it is of Knute Rockne, the legendary Notre Dame football player and coach.

Until someone can provide the correct answers, the bust will remain on a desk at the police station.

Anyone with information is asked to call Ventnor police at 609-822-2101.