Shelli WhiteReporter

If you see a monkey suit anywhere, let Aramark know. Their’s is missing.

Aramark’s Jam program lost its mascot during an early orientation session this past summer, and it has not been seen since.

Jam Rewards is a program implemented on college campuses to rewards students for eating on campus. As students use their meal plans they can be entered into sweepstakes and drawings for cash prizes as well as other things like gift cards and music downloads.

Sarah Bunde, marketing manager of Aramark, said after an orientation session, Amy Warren, director of operations, took off the suit and put it in a durable blue-gray bag in Java City located in The Union. That was the last time JaMonkey was seen.

“That blue-gray bag was huge,” said Andrew LaFrance, former Java City employee. “It looked like a body bag.”

An unlocked door may have been a part of JaMonkey’s disappearance.

“The [Java City] door was not always securely locked this summer,” Bunde said.

LaFrance said after Java City closed someone could have snooped around, seen the unlocked door and taken the suit.

“After Aramark told us about the missing suit, I checked and didn’t notice anything else missing,” he said. “I even counted the tea bags.”

Aramark did not suspect foul play regarding JaMonkey, at first.

Bunde said because of the flooding and construction this summer, they were not sure if the suit had been lost in the shuffle or if theft was involved. After checking all of the possible locations JaMonkey could have been, Aramark came to the conclusion that it was a stolen.

“We have not been very aggressive with the search,” Bunde said. “We were hoping the honor system would pull through.”

Aramark sent flyers to all of the SDSU dining location managers, such as the C-Store, The Market, Larson Commons and Medary Commons.

“Fifteen minutes after a flyer was put up at the C-Store, [the flyer] was gone,” Bunde said.

While various theories of what happened to JaMonkey have surfaced, LaFrance has a few ideas of his own, and thinks the suit is long gone.

Lafrance said he thinks someone either took the suit as a joke to show friends, sold it on eBay or wanted to take something back from Aramark because of how much money students are forced to spend on food.

“I think it is in someone’s garage,” said Chase Bennett, a sophomore computer science major. “I think someone stole it to use as a prank.”

If anyone has any information about JaMonkey, please call 605-929-8112.

There is a $100 reward.