A local effort is underway in Cranford, New Jersey, where residents and police are trying to track down about 50 turtles that are still unaccounted for. They are the remainder of a much larger group, more than 100 turtles in all, that were found along the riverbed by the Rahway River.
According to investigators, the animals did not simply wander off on their own. The turtles were not released, they were actually dumped along the riverbed near the Rahway River, and they are described as very distinctive looking, the box turtle and the three-toe turtle.
The strange scene unfolded gradually for people who live in the area. Neighbors walked out on Wednesday morning to droves of box turtles crawling along Riverside Drive near Casino Avenue, adjacent to the Rahway River, and the first report of turtles crossing the road in Cranford came in around 6:30 a.m.
At first, the sheer number did not register as anything unusual. Investigators originally thought it might have been a few snapping turtles emerging after the heavy rain, until one neighbor got a text from another saying there were about 50 turtles down the block, and then people found more than 100 turtles just walking into the road.
The response quickly became a neighborhood effort. With more than 100 box turtles, not native to the area, all appearing out of nowhere overnight, neighbors came out trying to slow cars down on the busy road and get the animals back, with residents noting the turtles were quicker than people expect.
The origins of the turtles are now the subject of an inquiry that officials say could be criminal in part. Investigators are looking at the possibility the turtles may have been part of an illegal wildlife trade and were dumped here intentionally, and they know that around 50 more turtles remain unaccounted for.
In the meantime, authorities have laid out steps for the public. The health department is asking residents to take any box turtle they find to the fire department, and the turtles turned over there will then go to various rescue operations, but first they will be evaluated by biologists and wildlife veterinarians to determine how healthy they may be before anyone can consider releasing them back into the wild. Police are asking anyone who finds the turtles or knows where they came from to call Cranford police, and among those already searching was 12-year-old Henning Smith, who went out looking along the Rahway River.