CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Nearly three weeks after a pet tortoise went missing in the Fifeville area, the animal was found on Halloween and is now back home.

Barbara Johnson, whose son’s pet tortoise got loose and lost on Oct. 14 near the intersection of Bailey Rd. and Ridge St., told Cville Right Now that Rowdy – a 38-pound African sulcata tortoise – was found by a jogger not far from its home.

“Seems around noon, a jogger on 5th Street (Ridge) saw her on side of road, picked her up to cross 5th at Bailey Road,” Johnson said. “My son, Rowdy’s owner, was driving back from Food Lion, saw them, and easily put Rowdy in his car.”

Johnson said she Rowdy seemed to be heading home. The family had been concerned that temperatures were dropping in October, becoming dangerously cold for the tortoise. She said she had helped her son, who has had Rowdy as a pet since finding her loose in Florida, dismantle her pen just last Sunday, as hope dimmed that Rowdy would be found. But Johnson said the animal appears to be in good health and spirits, according to her son.

“He has never seen Rowdy so quiet and easy to handle,” Johnson said. “Gave her a long soak (hydration) and she’s back in her room under heat lamps.”