--- title: Mingo the Stolen Lawn Flamingo Returns to Owner After Travel description: Mingo the Flamingo was stolen from Sarah Kelsey's Mountlake Terrace, Wash. home and traveled the West with a mysterious companion. canonical: https://time.com/5243014/mingo-lawn-flamingo-stolen-returned-travel/ author: Lena Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-17T15:12:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:52:14.121Z og:title: Stolen Lawn Flamingo Returns After Crazy Adventure og:description: The flamingo saw Las Vegas and Bryce Canyon National Park og:url: https://time.com/5243014/mingo-lawn-flamingo-stolen-returned-travel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stolen Lawn Flamingo Returns After Crazy Adventure twitter:description: The flamingo saw Las Vegas and Bryce Canyon National Park twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Stolen Lawn Flamingo Returns to Its Rightful Owners After Wild Travel Adventures by [Lena Grossman](https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman Apr 17, 2018 3:12 PM UTC by [Lena Grossman](https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman Apr 17, 2018 3:12 PM UTC The saying goes that not all those who wander are lost, and that includes Mingo, the stolen lawn [flamingo](http://time.com/4792190/why-flamingos-stand-one-leg/). [According to King 5 News](http://www.king5.com/article/news/local/flamingo-lawn-ornament-flies-the-coop-for-fantastic-road-trip/281-538355072), the pink lawn bird went missing from Sarah Kelsey’s Mountlake Terrace, Wash. home before trekking across the country with a mystery companion. “It’s been a roller coaster,” Kelsey told King 5. This front lawn, however, has been victim to other bird-nappings. Kelsey’s boyfriend Tom Feldman explained that another flamingo had been stolen before. “Let’s put some flamingos in the yard and put them in the cage,” he said. But the cage would prove to not be enough. The caper took Mingo the Flamingo and left Kelsey and her family a note that read “I need to get out of this cage for a while on [vacation](http://time.com/money/5212922/11-things-to-do-before-leave-vacation/).” [Mingo’s Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/mingo.mlt.3) documents the bird’s travels to various parts of the country, including Sedona, Ariz., Bryce Canyon National Park and, appropriately, the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. While Mingo was traversing the West, Kelsey and her family made up for the missing bird by buying two more. As for the identity of the Mingo’s travel guide? According to Kelsey’s 9-year-old son Corbin, “It’s a mystery.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5243014/mingo-lawn-flamingo-stolen-returned-travel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5243014/mingo-lawn-flamingo-stolen-returned-travel/"},"headline":"Stolen Lawn Flamingo Returns to Its Rightful Owners After Wild Travel Adventures","datePublished":"2018-04-17T15:12:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:52:14.121Z","description":"\"It's been a roller coaster\"","url":"https://time.com/5243014/mingo-lawn-flamingo-stolen-returned-travel/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Bizarre"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lena Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5243014/mingo-lawn-flamingo-stolen-returned-travel/","name":"Stolen Lawn Flamingo Returns to Its Rightful Owners After Wild Travel Adventures"}}]}] ```