Update: Evening of August 6, 2025 – Sheldon has been returned to its owner.
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a missing tortoise named “Sheldon.”
Sheldon is a “sulcata tortoise,” or an African spurred tortoise. He was reported missing from Walker’s Farm, west of Crowley, on July 30. The sheriff’s office posted on Facebook on August 6, asking the public to help find him.
“I won’t ever forgive myself. I don’t even want any more animals and I don’t want anyone on my property,” wrote Sheldon’s owner, Elizabeth Walker, on Nextdoor. “I can’t trust people anymore.”
Sheldon is tan, weighs 90 lbs, and has a “broken beak,” according to the sheriff’s office. The situation is urgent, as he “has health issues and requires a specific diet.”
Members of the public should call Detective Tang at 817-884-1271 or email [email protected] with any information on Sheldon’s whereabouts.
“If you see that someone has a large tortoise all of the sudden please let us know,” Walker wrote.
She said Sheldon was last seen on July 29 near FM 1187. Walker pleaded with his captors to buy tortoise food and give him calcium, and to refrain from picking him up by the shell or putting him in deep water – “he will drown.”
“Sheldon is fragile. Picking him up by his shell can be life threatening,” Walker wrote. “He requires a very specific diet. He has to be soaked every couple of days and he is still having symptoms of stress.”
“I’m angry, beyond angry, someone has stolen Sheldon again,” she added.
Only this time, she said, she captured the thieves on surveillance. On July 30, she warned that if the thieves did not return him in 24 hours, she would bring the video to the police.
Walker recently said she was “really proud” of the sheriff’s office, as the detective was “actually doing something” about Sheldon’s disappearance. She said this case is serious, especially given the tortoise’s value.
“Keep looking guys, there is a thief among us and they are going to continue to steal, and not just from Walker’s Farm,” she said. “Justice for Sheldon!”