An exotic bird was returned to a Concord woman after being stolen from a bird store eight months ago.
"He was kidnapped. He was not stolen," said bird owner Carol Bassett. "He was kidnapped. He was my boy, and he was kidnapped."
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WATCH HEREBassett is getting re-acquainted with her African Red Belly Parrot, named Plato. She has boarded Plato at Feathered Follies while on vacation last September.
At that time, someone had broken into the store and stolen Plato and an umbrella cockatoo, dubbed Tofu, that was later returned.
"Having to make the call to the owner that her bird was kidnapped was one of the worst experiences of our lives," said Mercedes Kemp, the owner of both Tofu and the store.
Kemp was reunited with Tofu after police discovered it had been sold multiple times and ended up in Southern California a month later.
On Wednesday, Kemp received a call from a Hayward man who saw one of her posts describing the district sounds Plato makes.
"The more we looked, the more we went, 'Oh my God, it's your bird. It's Plato.'" Kemp said. "He makes the same sound. He makes the same calls and behaviors. He fits the bill."
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SIGN UP Bassett picked up Plato later that night and said she knew instantly it was her parrot.
"I was kind of in shock because I basically had kind of given up," she said.
Cocord Police said the man had told them he traded some of his pigeons for the parrot back in September, and identified two suspects they expected to charge.
"This is probably been one of the wildest cases that I've worked," said Dylan Luciano of the Concord Police Department.
Bassett said her heart is whole again.
"I'm surprised I haven't burst into tears yet because I cried so much before. Maybe it's because he's here and I can look at him and I know I don't have to cry anymore," she said.
