Jeremy's turtle, Myrtle, escaped! We were sure she was gone for good. The smell she left suggested she had escaped and died. We had left her at the school during winter break, but went up to the school every other day to check on her (she has an automatic feeder). We looked all over the school for hours to be certain she wasn't just hiding. When we could not find any trace of her - we replaced her with a matching turtle, hoping the kids wouldn't notice.
"Myrtle 2" had been happy and thriving for over a week when it was time for school to start up again. Early in the morning, as the custodians began moving the benches and chairs from where they stored on the other end of the school, one of them screamed. Myrtle 1 had been hiding, after all.
We tried to keep both turtles in the tank together, but they were constantly fighting. So "Myrtle 2" became "Shelley the Music Room Turtle" and moved to the elementary school to be with me. (Jeremy has enough tanks in his room)