Oklahoma family seeks help to recover stolen sign from ‘Rain Man’ film location
By Jason Burger
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COGAR, Okla. (KOCO) — A family in Cogar is asking for help to find a stolen vintage sign from a historic service station that was featured in the 1988 movie “Rain Man.”
Cheryl Lockstone, the niece of the property owner, shared memories of the filming.
“They stopped the traffic going down the highway. And my grandparents sat across the street and watched the filming from the movie there,” Lockstone said.
Cheryl’s grandparents bought the gas station and general store in 1958, and several family members worked there for decades. She even grew up in the house behind the building for a few years.
The station closed in the late 1980s, but it remains a significant landmark due to its appearance in “Rain Man.” Dustin Hoffman once described the local people as “the loveliest people you could ever hope for.”
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Cheryl is now asking for help after the iconic “APCO” sign that stood tall on the property was stolen.
“It’s a big gaping hole where that sign is missing right now, and that is the first thing people noticed, is what happened to the sign, and why is it gone,” she said.
Cheryl believes the theft was deliberate, noting that the sign was removed from its frame and the bolts were undone.
“They have reached out and said, there’s no way the wind could have blown that out, you needed a lift, or ladder, some bolt cutters — you had to know what you were doing, and it’s very heavy,” she said.
The sign, considered a collector’s item, went missing around Oct. 26 or 27. Cheryl hopes someone might have seen or recorded something that could help recover it.
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“If they have dash cameras or if anyone around here has security cameras that might see the sign in the back or a truck, or a travel trailer,” she said.
Cheryl spoke of the importance of the sign to her family and the community.
“I don’t want them to collect our property thinking it’s abandoned or derelict, or unloved or unused, because it does mean something to our family and the community here in Cogar,” Lockstone said.
As of Thursday night, the sign has not been found.
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