JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — People of Jacksonville! Have you seen Max the duck?
Action News Jax received a rather unusual phone call Wednesday from a local woman claiming to have come across a one-of-kind duck earlier this week―a duck she has since learned is at the center of a search and rescue mission.
Jennifer Horvath and her young daughter were visiting Jarboe Park in Neptune Beach Monday when she said she first spotted Max eagerly waddling behind a family through a parking lot as they headed for their car.
Horvath watched as one of the amused family members led the duck back to the park, but when the man turned around, Max followed him back to his car.
The family eventually left, so Max found another family to follow.
And another.
“He would go to everyone’s car to try and go home with them,” Horvath recalled.
Undeterred, Max eventually set his sights on Horvath. “He followed my daughter around the pond. It was pretty apparent he was someone’s pet,” she said. “None of the other ducks would swim with him. He only wanted people.”
Horvath said she called her husband to ask if she could bring the duck home but was met with unreasonable questions like, “Where would we keep it?” 😒
That was the last time Horvath said she saw the bird. There was no sign of Max at the park when she returned the following day.
But that is when she spotted the “Missing” posters.
Scarlett Griffin told Horvath that Max disappeared from her yard on Heckscher Drive Friday, Oct. 22, and hadn’t been seen since.
After Horvath showed Griffin the photos and videos she had taken of the duck the day before, Griffin was convinced it was her Max.
Griffin believes Max likely followed someone home and is hanging out in their yard. She says Max, who she has raised from a ducking, does not fly and won’t go in large bodies of water because “he prefers to be on land with people.”
“There is such a void at my house since Max went missing, and I just want to get him back home.”
If you’ve seen Max, contact his mom at scarlyg23@gmail.com.
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