Smuggler has been found about a half mile from the Bismarck home he wandered away from on June 26.

The nine-pound desert tortoise escaped from his home in northeast Bismarck on 35th Street between Rosser and Divide avenues.

Amandan Lynn Moser, who works at Credit Collections Bureau on Rosser Avenue, said Smuggler's owner, Jill Fischer, had stopped in last week to ask people to be on the look out for the tortoise, which has been in her family for 30 years.

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, Moser and other employees saw a Bismarck police officer moving a tortoise out of the road. They stopped the officer from freeing the reptile, then called Fischer.

Fischer happened to be home sick for the first time in about 15 years and was able to take the call.

For more information about Smuggler's return, check back at http://www.bismarcktribune.com or read Wednesday's Bismarck Tribune.

- Jenny Michael