Daniel Guerrero thought the world was over.
In late October, the former San Marcos mayor’s 25-pound, yellow-footed rescue tortoise, Diego, went missing from his backyard.
A distraught Guerrero, who regularly posts about Diego’s adventures on Instagram, pleaded with his social media followers for help.
“He should not be placed in the river as he would not survive,” Guerrero wrote after noting that a witness saw a passing motorist pick Diego up. “He won’t survive the next cold front if he is not found and returned home soon.”
Guerrero, who served as mayor from 2010 to 2016, offered a $1,000 cash reward for Diego’s safe return. But days turned into weeks, and there was no sighting of poor Diego.
Then, Dec. 3, one of Guerrero’s longtime friends — Ben Kvanli, a San Marcos River enthusiast and former Olympic kayaker — noticed the cats on his property along the San Marcos River were going “nuts” and dancing around something that appeared to be a rock.
But it wasn’t a rock.
“I went out there and checked, and there was Daniel’s tortoise,” Kvanli said, adding that the tortoise then followed him everywhere he went. “If I sat down, he climbed up in my lap. He just wanted to be close to somebody.”
After 38 days on the lam, Diego the tortoise had been found.
He appeared shell-shocked, but in good spirits and overall good health.
Kvanli immediately texted Guerrero, who was volunteering as Santa Claus at the San Marcos Public Library, and the pair were reunited within hours.
“It was like a military guy surprising his kid at Christmas,” Kvanli said of the reunification.
Kvanli snapped a photo of Guerrero giving his 22-year-old tortoise a tight embrace, which the former mayor posted on his Instagram
“My Christmas miracle arrived early!!” Guerrero captioned the photo.
After a few days of rest and relaxation, the rescue tortoise and his human can go back to their regularly scheduled activities, which include appearances at schools and festivals where Guerrero educates the public about the difference between turtles and tortoises.
And as for the $1,000 cash reward? Kvanli wouldn’t accept it, but that didn’t stop Guerrero from making it count.
“Daniel wanted to pay it forward,” he said. “He insisted on giving the reward to my daughter, who has been saving to start an ice cream and lemonade stand.”
Annie Blanks writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. annie.blanks@express-news.net.