It’s a Shell Game That You Win by Finding the Turtle

With about 400 turtles in his backyard in Fountain Valley, what difference is one more or less?

Plenty, said Walter Allen, vice president of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club. He announced Friday that he is offering a no-questions-asked $500 cash reward for the return of Whitey, who was discovered missing Thursday. She could not have walked off on her own, Allen said.

You would know Whitey if you saw her, Allen said. She is a 10-inch-long, rare albino turtle, all white except for the somewhat dingy cast that she has taken on from living in Allen’s backyard since 1969. She is worth $2,000 on the exotic pet market, he said.

“I’ve notified all the pet shops and wholesalers and a bunch of my friends back East,” Allen said. “All the kids in the neighborhood are running around. They know there’s a reward.”

Only one in 20,000 turtles is albino, making Whitey the pride of Allen’s collection, he said. “She’s the boss of the yard, and she does what she pleases.”

Allen, a retired oil company employee, said he thinks that Whitey was taken either by “some kid in the neighborhood for meanness” or by “one of the people in the tours we give.”

He said he will turn over the $500 to anyone who reunites him with Whitey. Allen asked tipsters to contact him by telephoning him in Fountain Valley at (714) 962-0612.