Local Youth Help 11 Year Old Turtle Reunite with Owners

GRAND SALINE—It is not every day that you come across a dinosaur in your yard, but for some residents west of Grand Saline, that is exactly what happened this afternoon.
Shortly after school let out, Campbell McCown, Makayla Guill, Gabbie Lewis, Gabe Lewis, and Johnny and Abby Cortez family (not pictured) discovered a larger than average turtle roaming to close to Hwy 80, and decided to give the aged tortious, who they temporarily name Squirtle, a helping hand on her journey, or find out where or if she had escaped a loving home.
The turtle was witnessed west of town, just before VZCR 1806, by the Cortez family who alerted the others to the turtle.
The good Samaritans enlisted the help of Grand Saline ISD Superintendent Micah Lewis who contacted Grand Saline Sun Publisher BR Fite, who in turn contacted DiAnna Reich, Grand Saline’s animal safety officer. Reich was familiar with the turtle in question, and knew the address that “Shelby”, who is 11 years old, called home, complete with turtle house.
Fite and Lewis, with the aid of the original discoverers, made contact with the owners and Shelby was safely returned home. Shelby had pushed her way out of a corner and the cinderblock that was intended to secure the enclosure. The owners were very relieved that their “baby” was home and will be making Shelby’s home more Shelby-proof immediately.