Missing pet tortoise from Ormond Beach returns home

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - An Ormond Beach woman is breathing a sigh of relief after her stolen pet tortoise returned home. 

It was a pet owner’s worst nightmare. Melanie Cranford’s tortoise, Picabo, ran off Sunday night. “We seen a lady pick her up in a white Kia, and it turns out the lady had the best intentions.” 

“I freaked out. I freaked out. I started running around until dark,” said Cranford.  Well maybe not run. She is a tortoise after all.

“I had assumed the worst.” Melanie says she knows that Picabo made it out into the street and that's where she was picked up because it was all caught on camera.

“It turns out she was a very lovely lady. She was very sweet and honest very honest. I'm so thankful she was honest. You don't find that much often around here,” said Cranford.

After days of searching and posting about Picabo on Facebook, the woman who took her realized she belonged to Melanie. She got in touch today and brought Picabo back home.

“Thank you so much and you are an angel. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It was a reunion so surprising, it almost makes you say “peek-a-boo," said Cranford. She went on to say that “I feel like a thousand pounds have been lifted off my shoulders and put in my arms again. She's heavy.”