PENDLETON – The Egyptian and Northern Spider tortoises taken from the Indianapolis Zoo earlier this month were found safe and uninjured this afternoon in Falls Park, in the Madison County city of Pendleton.
According to the Pendleton Police Department, at approximately 4:00 p.m., they received a call from park visitors who, while walking on a sidewalk behind the park’s museum, near the falls, came across an unattended cardboard box.
The box was said to have had a paper plate on top with a note referencing the Indianapolis Zoo. Inside, the visitors found the two tortoises and immediately called the police, who arrived within minutes and took custody of them.
The tortoises were later positively identified as the two reported stolen after having their microchips scanned by Zoo personnel.
Currently, this incident remains under investigation, and there is no additional information to release publicly.
Assisting the Capitol Police in the recovery and ongoing investigation are the Pendleton Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General, and the Indianapolis Zoo.
