Missing Tortoise Story Ends Happily After 30 years

• A beloved pet turtle went “missing” when the house that it has been living in was being fixed and a garden gate was left open.
• Thirty years later, while cleaning one bedroom filled with personal paraphernalia of the patriarch of the family who passed away, the living turtle was unearthed.
• The turtle, which is really a tortoise, turned out to be the missing pet of the family’ matriarch.

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This is one missing pet story that ends happily and you might say, hard to believe, but it really happened.

After the patriarch of the Almeida family of Rio de Janeiro passed away in 2013, they decided to do a clean up of his house.  Their dad hoarded electrical equipment and other gadgets which occupied a large part of one bedroom.

While sifting through all the debris, daughter Lenita de Almeida and her neighbor unearthed different treasures and cleaned out the garbage.  She was astonished when her neighbor asked her if they were going to throw a turtle, too.

Lenita’s brother, Leandro said, “At that moment, I went white and I didn’t believe it.”

You see, their mother had a pet turtle way back when she was 8 years old.  According to her story, the house was being fixed and the garden gate was left open and it could have wandered out.  Their mother was heartbroken over the “loss” and told the story of her missing turtle Manuela, to all her children.

And now, 30 years after, right before their eyes was the missing Manuela!

Granddaughter Nathalye said that they were all shocked. “My mom arrived crying because she didn’t believe it. They found Manuela!”

The turtle or more correctly, tortoise, is from the Chelonoides carbonaria species.  According to veterinarian Jeferson Pires, “Despite adverse situations, they can go a long time without eating. Even without having scientific evidence to prove it, they can go two to three years without eating. In the wild, they eat fruit, leaves, feces, dead animals.”

In Manuela’s case, she could have been eating termite larva to last that long.

It has been ten years since the reunion and Manuela is now called Manuel as he has been correctly identified as a boy tortoise. Granddaughter Nathalye has been taking care of him and her mother and grandmother come all the time to visit him.

Nathalye said, “She visits him weekly, happy to see my daughter with him. She feeds him, pets him and kisses him. He’s part of our family. He is one of us.”

What an incredible reunion and this time, Manuel may even get to live longer as he’s been given special attention and a healthier diet.  Who knows, he might even get a girlfriend!  Long live, Manuel!

Source: Inspire More