This article first appears on Avon Patch.
The Miller family flew down Route 44 to Nod Brook Mall Friday after a caller reported spotting a large inflatable turkey by Baker's Dozen.
False alarm.
There was a turkey, but it was not Miller Foods' 18-year-old Tom the Turkey, an 8-foot bird that normally sits in front of the the family-run food distributer's Thanksgiving Tent at 308 Arch Road.
The Millers believe he went missing between 9 p.m. Nov. 15 and 5 a.m. Nov. 16. The bagel shop had an inflatable turkey of its own sitting out front late last week.
"It was Tom's cousin," Miller Foods project manager Capri Frank said on Saturday.
While Tom is not there to greet customers, a baby inflatable turkey was sitting in a tree by the Thanksgiving tent at its opening Saturday next to a sign that said, "Please return my daddy."
The Millers continue to offer a reward for Tom's safe return, a free Miller Foods turkey.
The Avon Police Department is investigating Tom's disappearance. If you have any information, contact the Millers at 860-673-3256.
Tom's disappearance has caught the attention of local, statewide and national media, including CNN, The Hartford Courant, NBC Connecticut, MSNBC and WFSB.
