{"id":692511,"date":"2026-06-09T00:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/692511\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T00:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:07:14","slug":"the-hunt-for-el-chapo-how-a-fugitive-peacock-united-fortuna-lost-coast-outpost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/692511\/","title":{"rendered":"THE HUNT FOR EL CHAPO: How a Fugitive Peacock United Fortuna | Lost Coast Outpost"},"content":{"rendered":"


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El Chapo in all his glory. (That\u2019s his brother, Ovejo, on the left). | Photos submitted by Pepe Matias.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe circle is closing around the fugitive,\u201d Fortuna resident Pepe Matias posted to Facebook on Friday evening. \u201cChapo the Peacock will be caught soon (I hope)\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve visited the Fortuna Happenings<\/a> Facebook group at any point in the last two or three months, you\u2019ve almost certainly seen a post about El Chapo, Matias\u2019s aptly-named and now-famous runaway peacock. Despite dozens of sightings across Fortuna\u2019s neighborhoods and multiple attempts to lure the feathered fugitive, El Chapo remains at large.<\/p>\n

The peacock saga has captured the attention of many chronically online residents, inspiring at least two local businesses to offer gift cards<\/a> and discounts<\/a> to anyone who can successfully (and safely) capture the bird. One resident even hailed El Chapo as \u201cthe bird that united us all.\u201d<\/p>\n


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The Outpost has actually been tracking El Chapo\u2019s case since his initial disappearance in mid-March. See, we were under the impression that he had been captured sometime last month and launched yet another daring escape. Not so! During a recent interview, Matias told us the peacock escaped just as he was preparing to clip its wings.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife bought me [two peacocks] three or four years ago in Redding when they were just little chicks,\u201d Matias said, referring to El Chapo and his brother, Ovejo. \u201cUsually, they have very good behavior, but [a few] months ago, I went to Santa Rosa to get a little female to be with them. \u2026 When I came home, I clipped the wings of [Ovejo], and the female, and [El Chapo] knew he was going to be next. My son got a little too close and scared him, and he flew off onto the fence and then the neighbor\u2019s roof.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was always kind of rebellious and adventurous,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n


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At least once a week, Matias posts to the Fortuna Happenings group to see if anyone\u2019s seen him. He\u2019s almost always met with dozens of well-wishes and several responses claiming the peacock has either been spotted or heard in a nearby backyard, as seen in the screenshots below.<\/p>\n

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But by the time Matias shows up, El Chapo has already flown the coop.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Facebook, I\u2019ve seen very good comments and a couple of bad comments saying I should just grab the damn bird and stop the BS \u2026 but people don\u2019t realize that I have to work also,\u201d he said. \u201cI work the graveyard shift [at the hospital], and sometimes when they call me, I am almost falling asleep or getting ready to go to work. \u2026 When I can, I do rush [over], but I have a job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matias asked that the Outpost extend his gratitude to the community for their part in tracking down El Chapo. \u201cThe whole town is helping!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

If you spot El Chapo, Matias suggests luring him into a garage or enclosed area with a little bit of food (apparently they like to eat bugs, fruits, seeds and the like). He was reportedly last seen in someone\u2019s backyard on Lawndale Drive, north of Safeway. If you\u2019re able to capture him, you can get in touch with Matias on his Facebook page \u2014 linked here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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El Chapo is still on the move \u2026 | Photo submitted by Pepe Matias.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" El Chapo in all his glory. (That\u2019s his brother, Ovejo, on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-692511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}