CONTRA COSTA TIMES (California) 13 June 06 Family loses pet tortoise - Vito was grazing near church when witnesses say a man took reptile inside a vehicle (Tom Lochner)
Rodeo: Some people think reptiles aren't cuddly and cute, but don't tell that to Brett Casagrande, 4, and his mom, Nancy. Their pet tortoise, Vito, is all charm and personality -- more than 30 pounds of it.
"He's very friendly," said Nancy Casagrande. "He likes to get his neck rubbed. He'll stick it way out."
But now Vito is gone, and the family is disconsolate.
Vito was grazing outside the family's Rodeo home on a hill that belongs to St. Patrick Church and School on Saturday afternoon while Brett's dad, Larry Casagrande, mowed the grass and weeds for fire prevention. When he realized Vito was out of sight, Casagrande searched the top of the hill. By then Vito was at the bottom near the school's play structure, where a man reportedly picked him up, put him in his vehicle and drove away.
Two witnesses who had just pulled into the church parking area between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. described the man as white, in his 30s, tall and of medium build, with light-colored hair. One described the vehicle as an old, red Jeep; the other said it was an old, red-and-gray Bronco. They said the man was driving east on Seventh Street when he stopped, got out, walked onto the school property, picked up the tortoise and drove away.
"He was so purposeful," said one witness, who asked not to be identified. "I thought he was the owner."
The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office is treating Vito's disappearance as an incident of missing or lost property, at least for now.
"Initially, we thought it might be a good Samaritan who would take it to an animal shelter," said Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee. "But we checked, and it's still missing."
Lee invites anyone with information about Vito to call the Sheriff's Office at 925-646-2441.
The family is offering a reward for Vito's safe return. Nancy Casagrande can be reached at 510-799-2081.
"We just want Vito back," said Nancy Casagrande. "We're not going to press any charges."
They got Vito in a pet store seven years ago when he was only about the size of a chicken egg, and raised him to his impressive size -- his shell is about 16 inches long -- by feeding him a diet of tortoise food, mineral supplements as well as vegetables and fruit.
"He will die if he's not in a heated environment," Nancy Casagrande said. Vito is a Sulcata, an African desert tortoise. He was on the hill Saturday to soak in some sun -- "it's good for his shell," she said.
"They live 150 years," she said. "I imagined passing him on to my son, and he would pass him on to his children. Vito would stay in the family."
Vito takes part in the annual blessing of the animals at St. Patrick.
On Monday, with her son and a reporter in tow, Nancy Casagrande retraced the path down an overgrown fire trail that Vito likely took to the play structure and his uncertain fate. Back up the hill, she showed off "Vito's garden," where she grows the zucchini and squash that the tortoise loves.
"I feed him flowers and grass and leaves," added Brett. Suddenly, the boy bent down and picked the gray, fluffy seed cluster of a wilted dandelion from the ground -- "a wish flower," he called it.
"I wish, I wish Vito could come home," he said, before blowing softly on the flower, mimicking the sound of the wind, "Fooh! Fooh!"
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