A Byram cat named Turtle is back with his owner after 571 days missing. He was found nearly six miles away in Mamaroneck, N.Y., identified by a microchip scan.

The reunion of the rare Nebelung cat with owner Kelly Moore, first reported by Patch, capped a search that spanned two states and more than 18 months. Moore's daughter, Shelby, scooped Turtle into a disguised carrier on the night of Saturday, Oct. 10, ending his long journey.

The saga started March 18, 2025. Moore was rushing to take out recycling when a crack in her storm door left it ajar. Turtle darted onto the porch behind her. She came back quickly and startled him, and he bolted.

Moore and Shelby enlisted Rocco Autero of Westchester County-based Rocket Lost Pet Rescue. Autero set up trail cameras near Moore's house and discovered Turtle was returning to eat in the middle of the night. For nearly two weeks, they tried trapping him. But Turtle had been through a Trap-Neuter-Return program in Tennessee before Shelby adopted him there, and Moore said the experience left him terrified of cages.

Then a raccoon tripped the trap on April 2, 2025. A rainstorm followed. Turtle never came back.

Months passed with no sightings. Autero posted yard signs, relocated cameras, searched a rocky cliff near I-95 behind Moore's home, and tracked neighborhood strays with a thermal drone, according to a Facebook post he published about the case.

The break came Oct. 6, when Autero spotted a week-old Nextdoor post from a woman named Eva about a long-haired grey cat near I-95 in Mamaroneck, about six miles from Byram. The cat had a clipped ear, matching Turtle's TNR marking.

A Mamaroneck neighbor named Jean had been feeding the cat for about a month. On the night of Friday, Oct. 9, Autero scanned the cat's microchip during a regular feeding visit. The chip confirmed it was Turtle.

Moore said she had been skeptical of the lead. Getting Turtle into a carrier was another challenge. He refused on Friday, Oct. 9, so the family returned Saturday, Oct. 10, with a disguised carrier. Shelby, the person who originally adopted Turtle, approached during feeding time, picked him up, and lowered him in.

"It was a comedy of errors," Moore told Patch, describing the whole ordeal.

Turtle is staying in one room at Moore's house and being let out gradually to acclimate. Moore plans to take him to a veterinarian for a checkup. Autero stressed in his post that pet owners should microchip their animals and follow up on every possible sighting.

Moore is also making plans to fix her storm door.