Barry Mason immediately recognized the tiny green face in the photograph on the front page of The Columbian on Sunday: His family's pet turtle of the past 21 years.

"There was absolutely no doubt in my mind," he said.

The turtle, part of a species thought to be all but extinct in Western Washington, turned up earlier this month at a Hazel Dell pet store. An employee of the store turned it over to Clark College biology instructor Steven Clark, who, in turn, delivered it to a veterinarian for possible use in a captive breeding program at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.

Now, Mason would like it back.

"It's more sentimental value than just a turtle someone found along the road," he said.

Barry and Chae Yon Mason were first introduced to Mr. Turtle in 1988.

The couple was camping with their two sons at Lake Pillsbury northeast of San Francisco when the boys brought the wriggling baby reptile back to the campsite. Could they keep him?

Circumstances overcame any reluctance about pulling the turtle out of its natural environment. Two years before, 7-year-old Chol had been diagnosed as a hemophiliac in need of regular blood transfusions.

"I grew up in Michigan and lived on a lake," said Barry Mason, a retired master sergeant in the Marines. "We had turtles my whole life."

They decided to take the turtle home with them to San Diego.

Time marched on. Barry retired from the military, and in 1993 moved the family to Clark County, where Barry Mason could pursue a post-military career as an emergency room nurse — a career choice driven by his oldest son's medical condition.

"I had to learn how to take care of him," he said.

Chol, in turn, took care of Mr. Turtle — right up until the day Chol died five years ago.

Chol, which means "Strength" in Korean, died of complications stemming from a transfusion of HIV-positive blood. Barry and Chae Yon realize they can never bring Chol back, but said they continued to care for the small turtle as an enduring connection to their son.

"I guess we're sentimental people," he said.

The couple first noticed Mr. Turtle was missing when Barry Mason went out to clean a plastic tub on May 14. The tub, 10 feet long by 3 feet high, housed Mr. Turtle along with a pair of store-bought red-eared sliders.

They suspect someone picked up the turtle during a large gathering at their home for the 25th birthday party for their son, Shon, on April 19.

Getting the critter back won't be so simple, however.

Collecting, possessing or importing wild animals violates current state law in Washington. It's unclear whether the same edict would have applied when the family moved here in 1993, or whether it applied in California when the family adopted Mr. Turtle at Lake Pillsbury 21 years ago.

The western pond turtle is threatened with extinction in Washington, and, though more abundant to the south, it has been considered a species of special concern in California since at least 1994.

"You wouldn't be allowed to just pick one up," said Kyle Orr, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game.

Dana Payne, animal curator at the Woodland Park Zoo, said the zoo is merely taking care of the turtle on behalf of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. State officials will decide whether it's released to a protected pond with other western pond turtles, adopted into the captive breeding program, or returned to the Masons.

Though no decision had been made, it seemed unlikely Tuesday that Mr. Turtle will be returning to the Ridgefield-area home of the Masons.

"The animals of this state are managed by the department for all the people of Washington state," agency spokesman Craig Bartlett said. "You can't just go take what you want for your own purposes."

Barry Mason is philosophical about it, and grateful Mr. Turtle appears to be alive and well.

"I understand the conservation value," he said. "If he was out there now, there's no way I'd pick him up. But he survived for 21 years with us, so we're doing something right."

___

Information from The Columbian