Missing Oregon Cat Stows Away in Mattress

frogarythm / Flickr
frogarythm / Flickr

An Oregon cat stowed away in a mattress and is now missing after a man sold his girlfriend’s mattress without knowing the cat was inside. Hayley Crews’ boyfriend, Roy Dufek, sold her mattress for $100 while she was at work, unaware that her cat, Camo, had hidden in one of his favorite places: a hole in the box spring.

Dufek sold the mattress because Crews was moving in with him, strapping it and the box spring on top of the car of the buyer. But when he returned to the apartment, the cat was missing. Dufek looked for Camo for 20 minutes, then called Crews, knowing that Camo could not have escaped because the apartment complex had three sets of doors.

Crews knew instantly where Camo had gone. Normally she taped the hole shut and supported the box spring with boxes, but knowing the mattress would be sold, she took out the boxes and removed the tape. She said, “I knew right away what had happened. When the furniture was being hauled out, Camo got scared and that’s where he would have hidden.”

Crews had raised Camo from his days as a kitten, and said the indoor cat “freezes” and goes silent when he is scared. Crews and Dufek surmise Camo jumped out of the box spring when the car took off or when the buyer took it down from the car.

The couple got the buyer’s permission to scour the buyer’s home and yard, even placing a trap in the buyer’s garage, but no luck. They went so far as to rent a thermal camera to search the area at night, but Camo is still lost. They have offered $200 to Camo’s finder.

Crews said sadly, “I am worried and devastated. Bad weather is coming, and time is of essence when it comes to finding him.”

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.