A 12-foot Sinclair dinosaur disappeared from Gardiner Sinclair & Yellowstone Dino Lube and Repair near Yellowstone National Park and later turned up in an unexpected location.
The heavy fiberglass mascot, nicknamed Dino, was found the following day about 10 miles away in Yankee Jim Canyon. Whoever took it had bolted it to a cliff above the Yellowstone River, where passing drivers could see it from U.S. Highway 89.
Employees recovered Dino and returned it to the gas station with minimal damage. No one has admitted to moving it, and station management does not plan to file a police report since there was no damage done to Dino.
The prank appeared to have been carefully planned, likely by locals, since those responsible brought the tools needed to remove and resecure Dino.
Thieves Rebolted Dino to a Cliff
The dinosaur was reportedly taken Sunday evening from an area farther from the building that was not covered by security cameras.
“I found it funny. To think that our dinosaur was sitting up in the canyon up there, it was funny. We were laughing all day,” Sinclair employee Jacque Sims told KBZK TV.
Drivers noticed Dino overlooking Yankee Jim Canyon, leading employees to find its unusual new location.
Dino Returned With Minimal Damage
Recovering the dinosaur was not as simple as putting it into the back of a truck. The employees had to remove it from the rock while making sure it did not tip over the cliff and fall into the Yellowstone River.
Derek Johnston, who helped retrieve Dino, told Cowboy State Daily that the fiberglass mascot is six feet tall and 12 feet long. It is valued at approximately $8,000.
Despite everything involved in the prank, the dinosaur was not seriously damaged. Dino is now being kept inside the shop until employees determine how to secure it more effectively.
“They did a pretty good job, and I was absolutely impressed,” Johnston said to Cowboy State Daily. “They didn’t even damage it — and definitely put some thought into it.”
Johnston also said putting a tracker on the dinosaur might be a good idea in the future.
This Is Not Montana’s First Dino-Napping
This is not the first Sinclair dinosaur to disappear in Montana. In November 2025, another Dino was taken from a Sinclair station in Bozeman and carried to the top of the city’s M Trail, according to The Travel.
Another Sinclair dinosaur was repeatedly stolen from a Billings location in 2022 and was eventually vandalized. For now, the Gardiner incident has ended differently, with Dino safely back at the station and employees left wondering who planned his trip through the canyon.
