She Reunited Pet Tortoise 'Puddle' With Grateful Kid Owners

Puddle, the wayward red-footed tortoise who slowly but surely traveled more than six blocks from home to downtown La Grange, spent 48 hours in the care of a family whose turtle had gone missing three months ago, before being reunited with its three young, ecstatic owners.

Mid-morning, July 27, La Grange police received a report of a turtle in the middle of Harris Avenue near the Blueberry Hill Breakfast Café and Pancake House, 49 S. La Grange Road, causing vehicles to swerve. A La Grange woman had picked up the turtle, but told police she could not keep it.

That's when officers called Marianne Wallner—she and her husband had reported their box turtle, Tutor, missing in May, from a fenced-in area in their La Grange home's backyard.

"They thought they had found my turtle," Wallner said. "They asked, 'Would you come see if it's your turtle?'"

Puddle, she said, is a 10-inch-tall and 18-inch-long red-footed tortoise worth between $200 and $400. Seeing it wasn't Tutor, she called her husband and asked if they should take care of Puddle anyway.

"He's the nature-lover," said Wallner of her husband, who has had two other turtles, since passed, in addition to the still-missing Tutor.

Wallner brought Puddle home, greeted by the family dog, Rena, who was very excited to have another critter in the house. Wallner fed Puddle some tomatoes.

"He was wiped out," she said.

And, she kept Puddle in the outdoor pen that once housed Tutor, and let Puddle play in the kiddie pool that sometimes serves as Rena's water bowl.

"I had three (turtles) at one time; I knew how to take care of it," she said.

Meanwhile, Puddle's owners, three little girls who live on Waiola Avenue in La Grange, posted fliers about their lost tortoise all over town. Police noticed, called the girls, and gave them Wallner's address. 

Wallner said the girls, who seemed to be around the ages of 6 to 10 years old, with their nanny, knocked on her door and were incredibly happy to find Puddle safe.

"They were very happy," she said.

In the following days, Wallner checked her mailbox to find four hand written thank-you letters from Puddle's human family.

One read: "Thank you for watching over Puddle. It means a lot to us. How did you know that he loves tomatoes?"

Another mentioned that the family would keep an eye out for Tutor. "I hope you find him," it said.

Wallner said she did not catch the owners' last name; their last name and exact address were not made available by police.

Wallner, her husband and their two sons, now 19 and 20 years old, have lived in La Grange for 23 years. Their family first became keen to turtles when the boys' elementary school class had a turtle students would sometimes take home to care for over  holidays.