5 turtles stolen from Georgia nature preserve; police searching for suspects

NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Officials at a Georgia nature preserve are desperately searching for five turtles taken from their enclosures.

The Autrey Mill Nature Preserve posted pictures and videos on its Facebook page of the turtles being taken last weekend.

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The video shows three young teenagers walking into the box turtle enclosure and taking the turtles out of the preserve.

The nature preserve said the box turtles have all been raised in captivity and are very unlikely to survive in the wild. Box turtles are illegal to keep as pets in Georgia.

Autrey Mill said it has a special permit to keep the animal ambassadors to educate the public about the importance of wildlife conservation.

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The Johns Creek Police Department is involved in the case and is asking anyone recognizes the people or have information about the turtles to call investigator R. Bucki at 678-474-1579 or rbucki@johnscreekga.gov.

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