A hard-shelled escape artist nearly deprived a Knoxville family of their pet this week, as Cecil the tortoise escaped the porch of the Ramirez home Sunday evening.

Owner Carla Ramirez tells KNIA/KRLS News Cecil was brought to their family from her husband’s sister in Texas and requires a lot of sun, so time out on the porch was a necessity. However, on Sunday evening Cecil escaped the confines of the porch and the family feared he was lost before Knoxville Police Officer Kyle Keller spotted the tortoise on a dirt road several blocks away on Tuesday.

Ramirez said that the odds Cecil and Officer Keller crossing paths must have been astronomical because not only was Cecil on a dirt road that not many people ever drive on so there is not many reasons to patrol it, you have to combine the fact that Officer Keller had seen the Facebook post about the missing tortoise. Ramirez also stated that the family will now have to find a new way to keep Cecil on the porch from now on.