The Mystery Remains - Where is Enrico Fermi?

ENFIELD, CT - For more than three decades, an unanswered question around Enfield has been: "Where is Enrico Fermi?"

We're not talking about Enrico Fermi, the Italian-born Nobel Prize-winning physicist; he died in 1954. And we're not talking about the high school named in his honor; that's on North Maple Street in Enfield (for a few more weeks, anyway).

Instead, we're referring to the bust of the scientist that formerly sat atop a pedestal in the corridor outside the school gymnasium. The bust disappeared sometime in the early 1980s, and despite diligent investigation by school authorities and law enforcement, no suspect has ever been apprehended.

"I seem to recall it was around 1982, but can't remember exactly," said Bob Kelleher, a recently-retired longtime Fermi faculty member.

Recently-uncovered photographic evidence indicates the theft took place between spring 1980 and spring 1982.

A photo from the 1980 Fermi yearbook shows the "Class Individualists" posing next to the bust. The 1981 yearbook contained no photos of the crime scene at all, but in the 1982 edition, the Weight Training Club gathered around the empty pedestal.

Police Chief Carl Sferrazza said he had "a vague recollection" of the case from his early days as a patrolman.

"I remember there were rumors that it was buried under the football field, and others that it was tossed into a river," Sferrazza said. "If it was sitting in someone's basement or on a trophy shelf, that likely would have come out by now."

The likelihood that anyone will ever be prosecuted for the theft is virtually nil. In Connecticut, the statute of limitations on petty larceny by a teenager is one year. The only way the person responsible could be arrested is if the bust was used in the commission of a Class A felony, which carries no time limit.

"If someone used it to fatally beat someone over the head, they could be charged, but again that scenario is highly unlikely," Sferrazza said. "Therefore, it's not exactly at the top of our caseload."

As to potential suspects, some strong (okay, not so strong) circumstantial evidence possibly implicates current Enfield mayor Scott Kaupin, whose tenure at Fermi coincided with the timeframe in which the bust disappeared.

Kaupin arrived at Fermi in the fall of 1980 fresh out of John F. Kennedy Junior High School, at a time when ninth grade students attended either JFK or Kosciuszko Junior High. He was very involved in school activities, culminating in his service as senior class president in 1982-83.

In one of the last photos of Kaupin taken before his graduation, he posed at the vacant pedestal wearing a mischievous grin. His sister, Lynne, appears in the same photo with a more subdued, yet knowing look on her face.

Why did he choose that specific location to be photographed? Was he taunting us? Rubbing our noses in it? Was the guilty party returning to the scene of the crime?

When asked those questions by Enfield Patch, Kaupin slowly and deliberately replied, "I have no comment."

Was the future Enfield mayor involved in some devious shenanigans more than 30 years ago? The world may never know.

This column was originally published on Enfield Patch in 2013. While based on facts, it is intended for entertainment purposes only, was written with the full cooperation of the individuals mentioned within, and is intentionally being run on this date - April 1st.