ARKANSAS, USA — UPDATE: Potato has been located safely after a neighbor found her and returned her to her owner.
--------
Potato, a 14-year-old, 85-pound African spurred tortoise escaped from its owner's backyard Thursday.
You may remember Potato, she was recently featured here at THV11 on The Vine.
Chelsea Hattaway of North Little Rock is the owner of Potato. She said that the tortoise pushed a loosely latched lock open and made her own out of the backyard.
"She's very strong," Hattaway said.
According to reports, Potato is still at large, though there have been several sightings.
This isn't the first time that Potato has escaped. Hattaway said that roughly a month ago, she escaped from her parents' Little Rock home.
"She had only gone three doors down. We found her the next morning sitting in a driveway," she said.
Hattaway's home on the other hand, is surrounded by woods which could make locating Potato difficult.
Neighbors and family members of Hattaway spent time attempting to find Potato Friday.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and animal control were alerted of Potato's disappearance.
"Being an African Desert Tortoise, the heat of an Arkansas August isn't really a problem for Potato," Hattaway said.
Potato, who weighed 25 pounds at the time, was adopted by Hattaway nine years ago from a turtle and tortoise rescue in California after her daughter spent time studying tortoises.