‘It was very emotional;’ 60-year-old statute found after being damaged, blown into lake by tornado

RUSSEL'S POINT — It was a symbol of hope, many people thought it was lost and destroyed.

Over the weekend, the Lady Fatima statue in Logan County was found.

News Center 7′s Malik Patterson spoke to the company that owns the historic statue.

“It was very emotional. We knew she was in the lake somewhere,” Bill Quatman, President of the American Society of Ephesus said.

He has family ties to this 60-year-old Fatima statue.

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“My grandfather built that 60 years ago,” Quatman said.

So finding the statue in the lake held even more importance.

“The longer it went on where she was in the water, we felt like we needed to get her out just to preserve the integrity of that statute,” he said.

Quatman said that after pieces of the statue were pulled out of the water, it was sent to a secured storage facility.

“We want to have a design phase. A fabrication phase to work on the fabrication work and pedestal itself. Then have a construction phase,” he said.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Missing statue found after being damaged, blown into lake by EF-3 tornado in Logan Co.

Since it was found during the Easter holiday weekend some suggested it was perfect timing.

“It’s so nice to have pieces of her back. This was her 60th anniversary of being here at Indian Lake,” Amber Fagan, president of the Indian Lake Area Chamber of Commerce said.

Now there is concern about smaller pieces of this statute remaining in the lake.

“The statue itself was picked up in the wind and shattered in the lake,” Fagan said.

Quatman said they will use stronger material to rebuild and give it a whole look.

The new Lady Fatima statute should be returned to its foundation by next August for its 61st anniversary. At the latest, it will be for its 62nd anniversary.

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