Put out an APB!
All Pig Bulletin, that is, for Big Man
Staff writer
Big Man is AWOL.
A 4-H pig, the registered Duroc has been missing since the Cody Pankratz memorial swine show May 29 in Hillsboro, lost somewhere between Hillsboro and Newton.
How and where he disappeared remains a mystery.
Big Man, shown by Chelsea Metoyer’s oldest daughter, 13-year-old Parker, was one of four pigs the Halstead family took to the show.
“After a full day of showing, they were so tired,” Metoyer said. “They were all four just passed out cold.
“We got the pigs loaded and headed home,” Metoyer said. “We stopped at the Dillon’s in Newton to get dinner. The kiddos were kind of fighting, so I said, ‘Go check on the pigs.’ ”
“Mom! We’re missing a pig,” Metoyer’s son exclaimed.
“My first thought was there was a pig in the Dillon’s parking lot,” Metoyer said.
But Big Man, who weighed 260 pounds on Memorial Day, was nowhere to be found.
“Our sliding back gate on our trailer had come open,” Metoyer said. “It’s a brand-new trailer. We don’t know if we hadn’t locked it right. We don’t know when or how the door came to open. We looked around the parking lot. We drove back to the show.
“My fear was we were going to see this pig lying on the ground.”
They didn’t.
Although Metoyer called law enforcement agencies in Marion and Harvey counties — an All Pig Bulletin of sorts — the pig still is missing.
Metoyer has put out pleas about Big Man on social media, and those posts have been shared hundreds of times, she said.
“We’ve had people reach out, and we’ve had people go drive the route we took,” she said.
The family left Hillsboro and took Indigo Rd., commonly known as 13 Mile Rd. Pastureland lines each side of the road.
“My biggest fear is that this pig is going to be wandering around, and somebody is going to hit him, which isn’t going to be good for them,” Metoyer said.
Big Man was the laziest of the four pigs, Metoyer said.
“He was ready for market, but we were holding him until the Harvey County Fair in July,” she said.
Could someone have stolen him?
“I don’t know how anybody could have pignapped him,” Metoyer said. “He was 260 pounds. You’ve got to be prepared to move a pretty big pig.
“What happened to him after he got out of the trailer, I don’t know. Hopefully he’s out in a pasture chilling by a pond, living his best life.”
Big Man is a friendly pig, she said.
“If somebody were to walk up on him, he’d probably follow you home,” Metoyer said.
The family got the pig in March.
“He was just a little 50-pound pig, and then he grew — really fast,” Metoyer said.
Big Man has a 4-H tag on his right ear marked #14530. His left ear bears a yellow breeder’s tag marked #1-5.
The pig didn’t do well at the show.
“He came in close to last in his class,” Metoyer said. “But the kids had fun doing it. He’s by no means a champion.”
If someone thinks he is, they’re going to be disappointed, she said, laughing.
Metoyer asks anyone who has a lead on Big Man to call her at (316) 518-4067.