PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — After being missing for eight days, an African spurred tortoise named Shelly has been reunited with her family in a rural Punta Gorda neighborhood.
Shauna Corocoran told Fox 4 she rescued Shelly in 2022 after she was found wandering in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, and since then Shelly has become part of the family.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on how Shelly the tortoise was found:
On Feb. 19, the 60-pound tortoise escaped through a gate that was left open by accident, and took off into the Punta Gorda Ranchettes neighborhood.
“I think I passed out close to 400 fliers, looking for her and I was really getting worried,” said Corcoran.
Corcoran said once her neighbors saw the fliers, they sprung into action to help find Shelly.
“I had complete strangers, one of them was searching horseback, one of them was searching with a drone,” said Corcoran.
The rural neighborhood is lined with deep drainage ditches and thick brush. Additionally, temperatures dropped during the eight days Shelly was missing — something Corcoran said added to her concern for the cold-blooded reptile.
But on Thursday, Corcoran got the message that she was praying for.
“I was at work and somebody messaged me and told me the address, and showed me a picture of her,” said Corcoran. “It was a distant photo and I could tell instantly that it was her, it was definitely her, and I said ‘we’re on our way.’”
She said a couple taking their afternoon stroll spotted Shelly in a yard not far from where she went missing from.
“It was just a very nice couple that makes their regular walks around the neighborhood and they took a picture of the flyer that I had put in their mailbox and they had been looking for her on their nightly walks,” said Corcoran.
Now Shelly is back home, unharmed, thanks to the help of her community, Corcoran told Fox 4.
“She’s safe and sound,” said Corcoran. “As soon as we brought her home she went straight to where she sleeps and fell asleep like nothing ever happened.”
Shelly was the second tortoise of the same species in the area to go missing for days, then turn up unharmed. A week before Shelly went missing, a spurred tortoise named Ninja went missing in North Port for six days before he was found three miles away from his home.
