Touche came into Nancy Knauss' life 55 years ago.

Knauss got the tortoise when she was 5 years old and he has been her friend ever since.

Until gardeners left her gate open a couple weeks ago and Touche escaped.

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"We posted on a lot of sites and we put fliers in people's mailboxes saying we had lost a tortoise and to please keep your eyes open, she could be in anybody's yard or garden," Knauss told KMPH.

Turns out the near-sighted, 100-year-old tortoise traveled 6.5 miles in search of a friend.

Steven George found Touche climbing onto a dome covering a water spigot at a neighbor's house.

"Tortoises, people think they're really slow, but this tortoise was really fast," George told KTRK.

George saw Knauss' post and was able to reunite Touche.

"Yes, there's a lot of bad in the world right now, but there's a lot of really good people that care, too," Knauss told KMPH.

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Tracy Woodard from InTown Cares (left) and Lauren Hopper from Mercy Care organization work with residents at the Copperton Street encampment in August 2024. 
(Miguel Martinez / AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez