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Pet Tortoise Found Alive and Well After 30 Years in Storeroom
Thirty years ago, a family in Rio Janeiro, the Almeidas, concluded that Manuela, their red-footed tortoise, had escaped through a door left open by workers renovating the house. But Leandro Almeida was more than startled to discover that Manuela was very much alive, having lived for three decades in an upstairs storeroom.
For years, Leandro’s father, Leonel Almeida, had been stowing away electronic equipment and other junk in the second floor of his house. After his death, Leandro and his siblings cleaned out their father’s residence.
It was while Leandro was taking out bags of trash that a neighbor asked him if he was throwing out a pet, too. Leandro then discovered Manuela inside a box holding an old record player. “At that moment I was white and did not believe,” he says.
Thirty years ago, a family in Rio Janeiro, the Almeidas, concluded that Manuela, their red-footed tortoise, had escaped through a door left open by workers renovating the house. But Leandro Almeida was more than startled to discover that Manuela was very much alive, having lived for three decades in an upstairs storeroom.
For years, Leandro’s father, Leonel Almeida, had been stowing away electronic equipment and other junk in the second floor of his house. After his death, Leandro and his siblings cleaned out their father’s residence.
It was while Leandro was taking out bags of trash that a neighbor asked him if he was throwing out a pet, too. Leandro then discovered Manuela inside a box holding an old record player. “At that moment I was white and did not believe,” he says.
