A special needs box turtle is missing from the SC nature preserve. Here’s how you can help

Michelle has been gone for three weeks.

She’s an Eastern box turtle who was taken from her critter carrier as her caregiver got ready for a presentation at Conestee Nature Preserve in Greenville County.

She’s not just any box turtle. She’s an ambassador for Conestee Nature Preserve and she has special needs due to improper nutrition in her early years. She needs special feeding and supplements. She can hardly eat an earthworm on her own.

On the afternoon of April 3, a member of the preserve’s education staff left Michelle in the kid’s Playscape along with some education supplies.

“She planned to engage with the visitors there, and introduce them to Michelle,” the preserve said on Facebook.

In the brief time the staff member walked through the Playscape, someone searched the supplies and opened Michelle’s carrier.

“We discovered this almost immediately, but Michelle has been missing since,” the Facebook post said. “Our team is devastated that this occurred and to this point, we have no leads on her whereabouts.”

They don’t know if she was taken or released.

“If she was released, knowing the location would help tremendously as it would be very likely she was still in that general area. Without this starting point, a search is extremely unlikely to be successful as Michelle is tiny, and will likely have burrowed.”

Staff members look for her every day. Members of the community have chipped in, too.

“Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to go look for her in the Preserve. If she was taken out and then released, she might be somewhere in the Nature Playscape or on the trails around the Playscape.”

If you have any information about Michelle, Conestee folks ask you to call their office at 864-277-2004 or send them a message. You can provide information anonymously using the Google form in the image/here: https://bit.ly/MichelleInfo

“We are not looking to ‘punish’ whoever took her, we just want her back,” the Facebook post said. “We miss her.”