NAMPA — A tortoise has gone missing from Reptile Adventures in Nampa, and employees and volunteers worry he may have been stolen.

Twister, a 75 pound tortoise, disappeared from president of the Reptile Adventures Tyler Messina’s yard Monday afternoon. Messina said there is no evidence that he broke out of the fenced yard he lived in.

Five other tortoises at the educational facility are accounted for.

The tortoises had been spending time grazing and soaking up the sun in Messina’s yard, which is typical for the summer because the rescue doesn’t have the means to keep them at the facility year round. Messina said he checked on the tortoises in the morning before taking one to a show. When he returned, only Twister was missing, he said.

Twister had been painted white, blue, yellow and red by uneducated owners before he was surrendered to the rescue. He was used to teach people how to properly care for tortoises. Messina said Twister has been at the rescue almost one year, which is when they learned he had survived with the paint on his shell for about 20 years.

Twister was sick when the rescue took him in and is still overcoming it. Messina said the rescue is worried that if he doesn’t get proper care soon, he won’t survive long.

“He’s touched the hearts of hundreds of people in the valley,” Messina wrote in an email.

If anyone sees Twister, they are asked to contact Reptile Adventures at 208-863-1192.

Reptile Adventures’ Facebook post alerting people that Twister is missing has been shared over 600 times.

Reptiles Adventures is an educational facility in Nampa that does outreach shows educating the public about reptiles and their benefit to people and to wildlife. They are located at 2930 Port St. in Nampa.