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Billboard mannequin sparks 911 calls over suicide fears

The Deery Brothers billboard mannequin sparked about 20 calls to 911, authorities said.

By Ben Hooper
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SPERRY, Iowa, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- An Iowa business owner said he had a mannequin removed from atop a billboard after police mistook it for a man attempting suicide and "conversed with him."

Brad Deery, owner of Deery Brothers of Burlington, said the mannequin atop the billboard along U.S. Highway 61 near Sperry was explained by the advertisement's caption: "I can see Deery Brothers in West Burlington from here."

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"We put him up there and holy smokes," Deery told KWQC-TV. "I had no idea what would happen next."

The Des Moines County Sheriff's Department said about 20 people called 911 to report there was a man sitting on top of the billboard.

"We sent two cars out to check it out," Sheriff Mike Johnstone said. "Of course after dark it's very hard to determine that he is a mannequin. So, our deputies conversed with him for a short period of time and realized he wasn't real."

Johnstone said 911 calls continued to pour in about the mannequin after Tuesday's visit to the site.

"They all assume that it's a jumper," Johnstone said of the callers. "They think it is someone going to commit suicide and there's a lot of concern for his safety. He is very realistic so I understand that."

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Deery said he decided to remove the mannequin from the billboard Friday.

"The police call him Manny the Mannequin but we call him Bill because he belongs on the billboard," Deery said .

"It definitely created a lot of interest and it was probably one of my more novel ideas," he said. "I'm just going to have to top it somehow."

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