AFTON – In early spring, a peacock on the loose in Afton became an unexpected local celebrity.

For weeks this May, residents reported sightings in their backyards, the golf course, and local businesses like McDowell Walker, all over Facebook. The peacock became a social media sensation with Facebook users giving it a name and speculating about its origins. Now that summer has set in, these posts have come to a sudden stop, leaving the question, where has it gone?

Throughout May, the peacock's movements were easy to follow. Photos posted placed him in places from North Afton, Hall Road, Route 41, and the Afton Golf Course, each sighting adding another point to what looked like a looping route through town.

Some days the bird appeared multiple times in different neighborhoods, strutting across lawns or perched high in sugar maples as if making himself available for the next photo op. By the end of May and early June, that steady rhythm of sightings, began to falter until no one was posting about it anymore. The bird that had become a daily fixture on social media suddenly vanished from the feed.

After weeks of chasing leads and messaging posters during the Afton peacock's era on Facebook I confirmed three firsthand sightings.

One of the last came from North Afton resident, Synthia Baciuska, who says her son runs the Facebook Page called “Just Goat for it” which happened to be posting about the peacock quite regularly in local groups.

“He was eating right out of my bird feeder,” she said, recalling how she opened her curtains to find the bird perched on the ledge of her porch. Having kept peacocks of her own a few years ago, Baciuzka was surprised that the bird had survived winter out on its own in such good condition, she said, “living through the winter is phenomenal, you know, on its own, but it was very healthy looking.”

She said the bird stayed in her yard for about a day before disappearing into the woods behind her home.

“It was mostly on this side of the river,” she said noting that the peacock seemed to travel in a loose path. The peacock appeared to be looping through North Afton, drifting toward town, then back into the hills.

Now as the days have passed, the route grew hard to trace. The sightings that once mapped his movements ended. Even the popular Facebook page, Just Goat for it, has gone quiet on the peacock front. It hasn't been seen online since early June.

While people were still posting about him, it brought joy and beauty. Another North Afton resident, Mannon Loucks, reported a sighting on May 15, when they glanced out the window and saw the peacock “strolling past the swing set.” He roosted overnight in a sugar maple and they found him perched on the swing set the next morning, before he began “his trek into town.”

“He’s beautiful, not afraid of people, and quite good at posing in lovely places,” Loucks said. Loucks posted about the sighting in case the peacock belonged to any of her neighbors, she said. Loucks planned to post again if he returned, but he never did.

A third confirmed sighting near Hall Road, Kristen Rozmus, was excited to see the peacock when it wandered onto her property.

She said, “I posted it about just in case the owner is out looking.”

Comments left on her posts suggested that someone on Route 235 owned peacocks so she hoped her posts would let them know it was alive.

“It's not every day you see a traveling peacock, a cow maybe, but not a peacock, and he's beautiful to look at,” said Rozmus.

Rozmus expressed concern for his safety. “I'd hate to see it harmed by wildlife or a cruel person, however I love how he just goes about his business traveling all over” she said.

At the time of our communications, she believed he may have been somewhere in the hills above her home, where there's plenty of space and cover. Both Rozmus and Loucks said they would post again if they saw the peacock around, but again, he hasn't been seen online since.

As the peacock's origins and current whereabouts remain uncertain, Afton's local Facebook groups have lost their unconventional mascot.

Baciuzka who raised peacock's herself, offered a simple explanation for his disappearance, “They take off, you can't keep them unless you keep them penned in.”

Her experience suggests the bird may have simply moved on, following instinct rather than any predictable route.

After watching the peacock's modeling tour online, the abrupt disappearance has left Afton's Facebook groups with less whimsy. We're left with a colorful mystery: Has the peacock settled somewhere quiet? Did its owners finally bring him back home?

Has he wandered beyond the reach of cameras or has it found an untimely end? The silence has been striking.

For now, we wait, regularly refreshing Facebook in hopes the unexpected visitor will reappear for another photo op.