Family: Three men drove off with their pet tortoise

GLENDALE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - It's not the typical missing pet poster: an 100-pound tortoise was stolen from a Glendale neighborhood, and witnesses told the owners it took three men to scoop it up.

The tortoise, named "Sheldon", broke a piece of the fence, and escaped from his enclosure while his owners weren't home. The tortoise wasn't "on the run" for too long, as it crossed paths with a trio of strangers.

"Sheldon" has been missing since Saturday, and three-year-old Ivy says she misses him.

"My daughter is very devastated," said Denia Santillanes. "She loves her tortoises."

The family was not home when "Sheldon" escaped ."Yoshi" and "Spike", who also live at the home, did not follow "Sheldon".

"Somehow, he went under his enclosure and he broke this part of the fence," said Santillanes. "We started a search party, walking around, asking neighbors, and one man told me he saw two guys walking."

Santillanes says "Sheldon" was in front of the house, by the street, when the neighbor said he saw two guys struggling to pick up and carry off the 80-year-old, 100 lbs tortoise.

"They got on the phone, they called somebody and they came, and that's when all 3 of them loaded it into the truck," said Santillanes.

The neighbor described seeing a third man pull up in an older white Toyota pickup with a white shell. Denia is disappointed the men did not put "Sheldon" back in his home. Their fence is low enough for people passing by to see the tortoises' enclosure.

As for Ivy, she just wants her big tortoise back.

"They're our pets," said Santillanes. "We love them. She enjoys its a responsibility for her waking up in the morning, watering them, feed them."

The family fears that the people who took the tortoise might have sold him. Large tortoises like "Sheldon" could sell for several hundred dollars.