June 23, 2000 DON'T DUCK IT: WHO DID IT?: Marriott-Slaterville Mayor Keith Butler is shown with the duck that was swiped for a trip to Washington, D.C. The duck was brought back safely, complete with pictures and other souvenirs. CHAD SPRINGER Standard-Examiner Mystery thief ducks out to D.C. By LUCY BOONE Standard-Examiner staff It was a fowl joke. When Keith Butler, mayor of Marriott-Slaterville, and his wife Jerri woke one morning and found one of their orna-mental lawn ducks missing - a mother - they thought she'd quacked her last quack. The Butlers have had their feathered lawn friends for 15 years. Every week when he mows the lawn, Keith cre-atively rearranges the four mother ducks and eight ducklings. The birds have become something of a landmark. The Butlers have even had strangers stop by with banana bread or cookies and tell them how much they enjoy their ducks. So when Keith noticed one of the flock had been ducknapped, he was angry. But then postcards from Washington, D.C, began arriving. The Butlers were baffled. They didn't know anyone vacationing in D.C. Stranger still, the postcards were stamped with a yellow, webbed foot. Apparently, their duck, who'd never so much as spread her wings, had some- how flown to the nation's capital. A week after her disappearance, the duck reappeared on the front porch with a suitcase, miniature camera,"I Love DC" t-shirt and a pile of souvenirs. Among the souvenirs was a duck diary - an itinerary of the duck's daily travels, in one section recording, "My flippers are aching" from all the walking. "It's unbelievable somebody would go to that much time and expense to do something like this," Keith said. But the poultry prank wasn't To be continued! over. A week later, a photo album materialized with 96 pictures of their lawn ornament doing Washington - in front of the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Mt. Vernon, the Capitol - and even a racy shot of the chick taking a bubble bath in a hotel bathroom. The Butlers have no idea who took their duck to Washington. "They must have really wanted to do it to not be embarrassed to walk around Washington, D.C, with a duck under their arm," Keith said. "Especially a battered, weathered duck," Jerri said. "If we had known it was going to be stolen, we would have put out a new one." But the couple has enjoyed the fun so much, they're dying to find out who the "abducktor" is. "I can't go to my grave not knowing," Jerri said. "Maybe they left fingerprints." Keith told his neighbor, Sheriff Brad Slater, he wanted a DNA study done. In keeping with tradition, this week the flock has been arranged in celebration of the duck's sojourn. The D.C. duck stands like a drill sergeant next to an American flag and is surrounded by the other ducks, all standing at attention. The motorists passing by seem to think it's, well - just ducky. 302