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Missing Grand Rapids tortoise found, returned to owner

Posted at 6:38 PM, Jun 09, 2015
and last updated 2015-06-09 18:38:24-04

GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Frank the tortoise is going back home. The missing Grand Rapids tortoise was found Tuesday evening and returned to owner Bradley Clark.

Frank was found by a woman and a group of kids who live in the area of Knapp Street and Shears Crossing Court.

“I didn’t expect this, didn’t expect a massive, giant famous tortoise to end up in my yard," said Sara Peterson.

She said the 12-year-old tortoise was eating flowers in her yard. The animal was found nearly six miles away from its home in Plainfield Township.

“I’m ecstatic. I couldn’t be any happier," Clark told FOX 17. "Thanks for FOX News helping me out and getting the word out there. I don’t know what I would’ve done without social media and the news.”

Frank is a Spurred Sulcata Tortoise, an African breed of tortoise that lives primarily on dry land, not in water.

Clark said that his pet escaped between 11 a.m. and noon Sunday from the area of 4 Mile Road and College Avenue NE.  He learned late Monday that two teen girls picked up Frank and, after speaking with a veterinarian, released the tortoise in the woods near Knapp and East Beltline.