After a Santa Ana family's beloved bird was taken in a brazen theft from the front of the family home, they have set out to find the pet that is considered "family."
Larry, an African grey parrot who has been with the Aviles family for 19 years, was taken from his cage on the family's front porch on Friday, Sept. 30, said Alley Avila-Aviles, the bird's owner.
"He's been in the same spot for 19 years. He's been in the same cage for 19 years," Aviles said, recalling the morning her bird went missing.
At first she thought it was a cat trying to get to Larry, but when she stepped outside and turned on her porch light, she saw the open cage.
As her neighbor stepped outside, he told Aviles what he had witnessed: Two men wearing dark clothing running out of the yard and getting into a black car, heading north on Figueroa.
Now the heartbroken Aviles family hopes to reunite with their pet.
"Larry is like my baby. He knows us when we're coming home, he does a certain chirp when he sees us. When we're leaving, he knows it's us leaving and does a certain whistle," Aviles said.
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Aviles' youngest daughter, who has known Larry since she was three years old, is devastated.
"She's been crying. She says it's not the same when she comes home," Aviles said.
The family is offering a $500 reward to anyone who reunites them with Larry.
"If they don't want to contact us, they could take him to the nearest police station or to the fire department or contact somebody or just bring Larry and leave him in the cage," Aviles said, voice breaking from the emotion. "I just want him to come home."
Anyone with information about Larry is asked to contact Aviles via email at alley_aviles@yahoo.com.
