Two Adairville men were indicted Friday by a Logan County Grand Jury for a crime that occurred over a year ago in the city of Adairville involving a 25-year-old Macaw bird.

The crime is an unusual one, and one that caused a great deal of pain and suffering to not only the victim, Ziggy, but her owners Iris Doty and her daughter Melanie Peters of Georgetown.

Cameron J. Mason, 22, and Le’Var L. Mason, 21, both of Adairville are facing charges of committing extortion by threatening to inflict bodily injury when they held a Macaw bird for ransom, that later died and intentionally or wantonly committing first degree criminal mischief when they shot a Macaw bird valued at between $2,500 and $3,000, that later died.

“I don’t understand why someone would want to do something like this,” said Doty. “This was an act of greedy people who don’t care about who or what they hurt.”

According to Doty, it all began on a day in May 2008 during the Strawberry Festival. Doty traveled to Logan County to help load furniture of a family member and she brought along with her one of her dearest friends, Ziggy, a 25-year-old blue and gold Macaw. “When I travel Ziggy always likes to sit on the back of the seat beside me,” said Doty who bought the bird for her daughter Melanie but admits Ziggy “fell in love with her” almost immediately.

“I loved Ziggy. She was friendly and talked to me. She called me Ma,” said an emotional Doty who said Ziggy knew 40 to 50 words.

When Doty arrived in Adairville, she went inside the house for a moment to use the bathroom. She said one of the people helping them went out to get Ziggy from the car and startled her.

“She didn’t know this person and she got scared and flew out of the car into a nearby tree. I couldn’t believe she did this. Her wings had been trimmed and she didn’t fly. But I guess she was just scared,” said Doty.

The nightmare continued as Ziggy could not be retrieved. “We tried for hours to get her to come down but she just kept flying higher into the tree,” said Doty who even called the fire department but according to Doty they were too busy with the festival.

Doty stayed two nights in Adairville trying to get Ziggy to come down but she couldn’t.

“I eventually had to leave and that was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Ziggy just cried out ‘Ma! Ma! Ma!’ as I drove off and I cried as well.”

Doty had left a card where she could be reached and a reward of $100 for her bird’s safe return.

“I had just gotten to the other side of Elizabethtown when I got a call from Le’Var Mason telling me he had my bird. I was so excited and happy I told him I was turning around and would be back in Adairville in an hour,” said Doty.

When she arrived and met with Mason, Doty said he asked her for his money. She said when she presented the $100 he told her it would be $1,000 to get her bird back.

“I told him I had offered $100 and didn’t have that kind of money. He told me it was $1,000 or I wouldn’t get my bird back.

“A family friend was with me and offered another $100 to let me have my bird. He hesitantly agreed and I followed him to a home close to Russellville. After I got there he brought out Ziggy in her cage but she was laying down in a puddle of water they had put in the cage. I was devastated,” said Doty.

Doty said she asked Mason what he had done to her bird to which he replied he had shot it with a tranquilizer gun.

“I knew right away he had not shot her with a tranquilizer and kept asking him what he had done,” said Doty who admits she threw the money at him and left with her bird.

Doty took the bird back to Georgetown and took her to their veterinarian who did an X-ray on Ziggy. Doty said the vet told her Ziggy had been shot with a pellet gun and needed emergency surgery in Lexington.

It was on the way to Lexington that Ziggy died.

“I am so sad she is no longer with us,” said Doty who still keeps one of Ziggy’s feathers as a reminder. “I miss her so bad. I just don’t understand why someone would be so cruel. I know the jails are full and I hate seeing anyone go to jail but I do believe these men need to pay in some way for what they have done.”

There is a $7,500 cash bond on each and are scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 1 at 8:30 a.m.