The mystery of a missing giraffe in Texas has deepened as cops called stories of her recapture false.
Gracie the giraffe has been missing from the Cedar Hollow Ranch in the South Texas city of Leakey for nearly two weeks.
The Real County Sheriff’s Office put out an alert Monday about Gracie’s disappearance, with the alert noting that the rounded-ear giraffe was last seen on a game camera west of Leakey.
There were reports that Gracie had been found, but authorities quickly quashed those claims.
“The giraffe has not been located. It’s still at large,” Real County Sheriff Nathan T. Johnson said in an article from The Guardian published Wednesday.
The sheriff’s office also confirmed to San Antonio news outlet MySA that the giraffe has yet to be found as of Wednesday.
Vick Jones, the manager of Cedar Hollow Ranch, told FOX 7 Austin that Gracie escaped from the ranch on June 12.
“We released her into the canyon. She actually started going up and feeding in an area we’d never had giraffes feed in before,” Jones said.
Gracie then went up a hill and over a mountain, according to Jones.
Jones had just hoped to get the word out about Gracie’s disappearance to locals, but she soon made national headlines.
“I just thought whatever some of the locals out on the ranches, people that work on some of these ranches might would see it and or hear about it and give me an idea, you know, which way she might have gone.
“You know, 24 hours later, it’s all over the world,” Jones told FOX 7 Austin.
Some local groups on social media have poked fun at Gracie’s disappearance, sharing AI-generated images of the giraffe helping the fire department or cooling off in the river to explain her disappearance.
The Uvalde Volunteer Fire Department shared an edited photo of Gracie in firefighting gear, standing next to a fire truck.
The department wrote on Facebook alongside the image that it would “like to welcome our newest probationary firefighter, Gracie the Giraffe!
“After being reported missing in Real County earlier today, Gracie was quickly recruited due to her unique qualifications for elevated operations.”
The New Braunfels Independent School District shared an AI photo of Gracie riding on an inflatable tube down a local river with some school mascots.
“Yesterday, Eugene and Sampson were seen with Gracie the Giraffe enjoying some summer fun along the Comal River!” the Facebook post read.
The light-hearted posts about Gracie have helped bring attention to her disappearance, racking up thousands of likes on Facebook.
A $5,000 reward for information leading to Gracie’s safe return has been offered.
Anyone with knowledge about the giraffe’s disappearance is asked to contact Jones at 830-279-5822 or the sheriff’s office at 830-232-5201.
