{"id":368409,"date":"2026-08-11T14:04:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/368409\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:04:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:04:20","slug":"statue-honoring-5-year-old-boy-who-lost-fight-with-cancer-stolen-from-miami-lakes-park-wsvn-7news-miami-news-weather-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/368409\/","title":{"rendered":"Statue honoring 5-year-old boy who lost fight with cancer stolen from Miami Lakes park &#8211; WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MIAMI LAKES, FLA. (WSVN) &#8211; A statue of a young boy who was honored after he <a href=\"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/news\/local\/broward\/miramar-family-of-boy-who-died-from-brain-cancer-gifted-hurricane-impact-windows-doors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">lost his battle with brain cancer<\/a> was taken from a Miami Lakes community. Now a search is underway to find the people who took it and to put ir back where it belongs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jakey Duque was a happy little boy who inspired thousands during a courageous battle with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDuring his short time here and during his diagnosis, he never once complained and he radiated this smile,\u201d said his mother, Karen Duque.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jakey died in June of 2020, when he was just 5 years old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe fought eight months in St. Jude [Children\u2019s Research Hospital] and gave it his all, but unfortunately, God had other plans,\u201d said Karen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, during the boy\u2019s fight, he inspired thousands of supporters who became known as Jakey\u2019s Army.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cJakey\u2019s Army was created and [the name] Jakey\u2019s Army [came] from the theme song. of \u2018I Will Send You an Army,&#8217;\u201d said Karen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Years later, his memory lives on at Jakey Duque Park in Miami Lakes, a place his parents and his army come to sit, think and feel close to him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But now, the memorial statue created in Jakey\u2019s honor has been taken.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur four-year-old couldn\u2019t believe it, and her original reaction was, \u2018Who would take this?\u2019 \u2018Who would take my brother?\u2019 Obviously, it\u2019s a statue, it represents so much to us personally, but also for the community,\u201d said Karen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The specialized sculpture stood on a pedestal near Northwest 154th Street and 89th Avenue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For his family, the value of the memorial can\u2019t be measured in dollars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of things to to everybody; it\u2019s a sign of peace,\u201d said his father Orlando Duque.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And after Jakey\u2019s death, the memorial became another way to keep his spirit and story alive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat statue was a life-size replica of him, but this park radiates the same thing. It has peace, has tranquility, has become a gathering place for the community,\u201d said Karen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jakey\u2019s parents now just have one simple message for whoever took it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo harm, no foul. Just bring it back and be done with it, and we could put it back where it\u2019s supposed to be,\u201d said Orlando.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you have you have seen the statue or have any information on this theft, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p>\tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI LAKES, FLA. (WSVN) &#8211; A statue of a young boy who was honored after he lost his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-368409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}