Large missing rubber duck somewhere along Highway 401
The mystery of a missing large rubber duck has consumed Toronto’s Simon Shaw.
Shaw says it was last seen eastbound on Highway 401 in Chatham-Kent between Tilbury and Kent Bridge Road.
“It’s just a mystery!” Shaw says. “He’s just vanished on this stretch of the 401.”
The four-foot-long duck is part of a custom made utility trailer Shaw built and uses for his job as a violin bow maker. The archetier says the top half vanished during a strong storm around 10 p.m. Friday.
“It’s like the Bermuda Triangle,” Shaw says. “You wouldn’t think that a four-foot-long rubber duck could vanish in western Ontario, but, he’s just poof! Like magic!”
Shaw tells CTV News he reported the missing duck to the OPP when he noticed it was gone near London and returned to canvass the region Friday night and all day Saturday.
“I drove back and forth over about a 27-hour period because you know? No duck left behind right,” he says.
According to Shaw, the duck is affectionately named “Teddy Ginsbird” and was built at a nude beach in Nova Scotia.
“I finished him the night before Hurricane Teddy so that’s why he’s called ‘Teddy’ and then Ruth Bader Ginsberg died a couple days later and she was a personal hero of mine, so, I named his second name as ‘Ginsbird,’” he says.
Shaw explains he was planning to tour the trailer across North and South America, from Alaska to Chile after seeing how happy it made people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was just what everybody kind of needed in the pandemic to go ‘wait, there is hope, in rubber duck form!’ So, I’ve got to find Teddy,” he says.
Shaw says people from around the world online have been reaching out to him asking what happened to the trailer.
“There’s a little two-year-old girl that comes up every single day to see Teddy Duck and since I’ve been back here the last 36 hours people are like ‘WHAT HAPPENED TO TEDDY?’”
Shaw thinks the big duck is in a ditch somewhere along the highway and is asking all motorists to keep an eye out.
“His mission was to bring everybody positivity and love and a smile during the pandemic,” Shaw adds. “I know he’s just a giant plastic duck, but you can see the effect he has on people.”
If anyone locates or has any information about the missing duck, they’re asked to contact Ontario Provincial Police, or Shaw through Teddy’s Instagram page.
“I don’t know what to do but I’m not giving up just yet,” Shaw says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.