LEAKEY – Gracie was spotted in the Hill Country by a helicopter crew at 7:30am in the morning.<\/p>\n
The Real County Sheriff\u2019s Office says she was hard to track down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call her Gracie, and she\u2019s on a fling and kind of has a \u2018catch me if you can\u2019 attitude,\u201d said Sheriff Nathan Johnson.<\/p>\n
Gracie, whose story captured the attention of the entire country, escaped from Cedar Hollow Ranch, a private ranch near Leakey, about two weeks ago. <\/p>\n
Sheriff Nathan Johnson says despite her size, she was able to hide from initial searches.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got some deep canyons, and we have a lot of foliage, so even a big giraffe can be under an oak motte or in an area where there are a lot of pecan trees or something, and it would be hard to see her,\u201d said Johnson.<\/p>\n
Before finding Gracie, a trail camera southwest of Cedar Hollow Ranch tipped them off to her location.<\/p>\n
The ranch hired Jeff Hill with Concho Aviation, who flew over the area with ranch manager Vick Jones.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 7:30am he said, \u2018hey Vick, I got her. She\u2019s right under us.\u2019 And there she stood,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n
Jones says Gracie escaped the ranch by climbing a steep rock slab up a hill that wasn\u2019t fenced off.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that I know she can go up there and will go up there, that 200-foot stretch will have a fence put on it,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n
At the moment, Cedar Hollow Ranch is working with veterinarians to sedate and relocate her, and it could take until at least tomorrow for her to get home. <\/p>\n