Our Poor Tuffy

Here's a tragedy. It involves a kidnapping. Someone has kidnapped Tuffy Tor and left him for dead. Tuffy Tor was (is, and will always be) Ball High School's mascot. We didn't have someone running around in a suit. We had an 8-foot tornado that was lifted above the shoulders of class members.

I've tried to see if I could find an actual picture, but with no success. You see, you just don't appreciate what you have until you lose it. I'll keep looking though. Here's the story from The Galveston County News.


Kidnappers leave Tuffy Tor beaten, broken

By Rhiannon Meyers
The Daily News
Published May 4, 2007

GALVESTON — Tuffy Tor is no more.

Galveston police found the beaten and broken Ball High mascot in a field on 7-Mile Road Wednesday night.

Tuffy had been a fixture at Ball High. He stood watch at the front doors of the high school. He was there at every football game and even had his own graduation cap.

Students claim Tuffy was kidnapped from his front-door post at Ball High on Saturday morning, but he wasn’t reported missing until Wednesday, said Galveston Independent School District Police Chief LeeRoy Amador.

It was unclear Thursday what happened in the last moments of Tuffy’s 22-year life, but apparently it was brutal.

Tuffy’s 8-feet tall, yellow Fiberglas body was found beaten and broken in half Wednesday night. The kidnappers punched holes in his head, snapped off several fingers and dumped him in a pasture, said Lisa Schweitzer, Ball High’s student council sponsor. An empty wheelchair was found near his body.

“He’s our mascot and the soul of our campus and community,” she said. “He will remain in us through our spirit and camaraderie. Now is the time to show our loyalty.”

Police were able to extract some intact fingerprints from Tuffy’s body. Students on Thursday came forward with information, but Tuffy’s kidnappers remained at large Thursday night, Amador said.

Anyone with information is urged to call Galveston Independent School District police at 409-766-5811. The student council is offering a cash reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Tuffy’s kidnappers.

On Thursday, students placed flowers near Tuffy’s broken body at Ball High, Schweitzer said. The body will be moved to a repair shop today, she said.

The Ball High student council is hoping to raise money to repair Tuffy so he can attend graduation May 31. The student council has set up a Tuffy Tor Fund at Ball High.

“We just can’t not have Tuffy there,” she said. “He’s very much a part of this school.”

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Tuffy Tor Fund c/o Ball High School Student Council 4115 Ave. O Galveston, Texas 77550