From left, Charlotte Modesitt, Ray Swick and Susie Ashley pose with Sammy. Sammy got loose from Swick on June 19 at Civitan Park in Belpre and was lost for nearly a week before being found by Jenny Maze and her daughter, Kenisyn, of Belpre. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

PARKERSBURG — A tortoise that eluded its owner at Civitan Park in Belpre wandered nearly a week until passersby recognized the traipsing Testudinidae from a social media blitz.

Sammy the South American red-footed tortoise got away from Ray Swick on June 19 at the park where the retired historian of the Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park often takes it for a walk.

A hot day, Sammy slipped away while it was in the shade from a roller along a park shelter, Swick said. Swick said he turned away and in that brief time Sammy left and probably walked into the thicket where he was concealed.

“They move a lot faster than you think,” Swick said.

Swick has had Sammy for about eight years. He also has Ivan, a male Russian tortoise.

Sammy, the South American red-footed tortoise. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

The emotionally distraught Swick went to see his friend, Charlotte Modesitt, after Sammy’s escape.

“I told him we had to put flyers up right away,” Modesitt said.

They did, posting signs around Civitan Park where Swick feared the tortoise would get into the adjacent thicket or fall into the Ohio River, and never again be seen.

“I had nightmares about what might happen to him,” Swick said.

Among those nightmares was Sammy getting smashed while crossing a road. Sammy was seen several times crossing Blennerhassett Avenue, once stopping traffic while he lumbered across the street, Swick said

Sammy, a South American red-footed tortoise, sits on Kenisyn Maze after she and her mother, Jenny, found it crossing Blennerhassett Avenue in Belpre. They reunited Sammy with an elated Ray Swick. (Photo Provided)

“That’s all I thought about while he was gone,” Swick said.

On the Saturday following Sammy’s disappearance, Modesitt and Swick sliced strawberries and placed them in the area. Sammy likes strawberries and maybe he would smell them and be attracted to them, Modesitt said.

“We stayed for a while,” she said.

News of the lost tortoise reached Susie Ashley of Barlow. She called Swick and offered to help.

“Ray was really distraught,” Ashley said.

Ashley posted Sammy’s story and picture on Facebook and shared it through text messaging.

The social media campaign resulted in hundreds of responses from people on Facebook and in text messages who said they saw the tortoise walking across Blennerhassett Avenue and in the area near the Civitan Club on Blennerhassett Avenue, Ashley said.

“There’s a lot of heroes in this story,” she said.

Six days after the escape on the following Tuesday, Jenny Maze and her daughter, Kenisyn, 16, were driving toward the park on Blennerhassett Avenue and spotted the tortoise crossing the street at the Civitan Club.

“There was a turtle in the middle of the road,” Jenny Maze said. “A pretty good turtle.”

Kenisyn carried Sammy into their car, letting it sit on her lap. They checked the reports on Facebook about the missing tortoise, trying to determine if they found Sammy.

“They all look the same,” Maze said.

After determining they found Sammy, Maze called Swick to tell him the news. He met them at the park where he was overcome with emotion.

“His eyes lit up. He had tears in his eyes,” Maze said. “It was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

It was a joyous reunion, ending the worry and nightmarish thoughts.

“I was elated,” Swick said.

Swick credits modern technology and Facebook.

“This is a story that demonstrates how a community using technology can help each other out,” Swick said.

Without social media and without Sammy’s photo on Facebook, the tortoise might have been found, but no one would have been able to determine who the owner was, Swick said.

“Then he would have disappeared into private ownership,” Swick said.

On the lam for six days, Sammy was none the worse for wear, Swick said. Sammy ate good, feasting on natural food it doesn’t get at home, Swick said.

Despite the anxiety, Swick finds humor in the incident.

“I think he had it all premeditated,” Swick said.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com