Police are asking for the public’s help in tracking down a missing tortoise that crawled out of the Critter Cabana pet store in Wilsonville last month and was then taken from a nearby intersection by an unknown woman.
Clackamas County deputies contracted to the Wilsonville Police Department responded to the pet store around 1:15 p.m. July 9. A sales associate told deputies that a large tortoise named Walter had crawled out of the store after a customer left the door propped open.
The employee told deputies it was not uncommon for Walter to crawl out of the store — the tortoise was described as “surprisingly fast and smart.”
Outside the store, a passerby reportedly saw Walter as he was driving near the intersection of Southwest Holly and Jessica Street.
The witness slowed down and pulled out his phone to call Critter Cabana, correctly surmising the animal had escaped from the pet store, when a woman walked out from in between two apartment buildings to the east.
“My neighbor has a turtle,” the woman reportedly told the passerby. “I think this might be my neighbor’s. I’m going to take it to them.”
She then reportedly wrapped Walter in a blanket and disappeared. The witness described the person as a thin, white female, age 40 to 50, with long, blonde hair.
Walter reportedly weighs 25 pounds, is around 30 years old, and has a brother named Wesley who resides at the store. A staff member who works at the store described Walter as “relaxed.”
They said tortoises are allowed to wander the store and that this is an attraction to customers. The tortoise, which is a sulcata species, had yet to be found this week, according to the staffer.
Walter is valued at $1,300. Anyone with information on Walter’s whereabouts is urged to contact the Sheriff’s Office Tip Line by phone at 503-723-4949 or by using the online email form. Please reference case no. 21-014439.
