ERIE, Ill. (KWQC) – A family in Illinois has a pet wallaby on the loose, leading the entire town on a mission to bring him home.
Alexis Smith said her wallaby, Blu, got out while she was out of town. Her dog dug a hole in the yard under her fence and Blu managed to escape.
Smith said she thought Blu had been taken or eaten by a predator until community members began spotting him around town.
“He was actually seen behind the Casey’s. He’s made his way four miles outside of town and come all the way back in,” said Smith.
She bought Blu a year ago when he was just a few weeks old. Now Blu has become part of the family.
“He’s our little baby and we want him home where he belongs,” said Smith.
When Blu first went missing, Smith turned to Facebook asking for help. News of a missing wallaby traveled fast sparking a lot of interest in Erie.
Katherine Miller and Jennifer Ashdown, Erie community members, heard about what was happening and have been spending time looking for Blu.
“We are out looking for the wallaby that has been missing for awhile now. We’ve been looking the last couple of nights for it,” said Ashdown.
Miller said she just started helping with the search efforts and hopes he makes it home soon.
“I hope they find him soon because his family seems really nice,” said Miller.
Vintage Radio, station in Erie, also heard about the wallaby on Facebook and had to help. Manager, Aaron Dail said he didn’t know whether to believe the story when it hit social media.
“I guess I had no idea that there was a wallaby even in town um I’m guessing they will go to whatever lenghts needed to make sure this doesn’t happen again once he gets back home safe,” said Dail.
Vintage Radio began offering a $200 dollar reward. Listeners began calling and offering more money raising the reward to $525 as of Wednesday.
Smith said with the help of the community she believes Blu will be brought home soon.
“I’m not giving up. I don’t think anybody want to give up so there’s still hope for Blu,” said Smith.
Blu is more then just a pet to Smith and her family, he is part of the family.
“My son calls, he never got a brother so he called him his little brother. There’s been many times where her and her sister were in the bath and he would just hop in the bath because he loves hot showers and hot baths,” said Smith.
If you spot Blu, Smith says try to call him by name. If he doesn’t respond don’t run after him or he will just continue to run.