Gracie, a missing giraffe who has captivated social media this week, was located on Friday morning, June 26, two weeks after she disappeared. Teams are currently working to recover her, according to officials at Cedar Hollow Ranch and the Real County Sheriff’s Office.
“She has been located. She has not been safely returned yet,” a sheriff’s office official told MySA.
Cedar Hollow Ranch manager Vick Jones told MySA that he spotted Gracie from a helicopter around 7:30 a.m. on Friday, June 26.
“She is in Real County,” he wrote, via text.
The law enforcement agency said Jones came in sometime this morning to report seeing Gracie somewhere in the “rough terrain” where she was last seen days ago on a game camera west of Leakey, not far from the ranch.
Officials are organizing a search to recover the animal and return her to Cedar Hollow. Her owners previously offered the public a $5,000 reward for information leading to her rescue.
The giraffe has been the subject of social media buzz and international headlines this week, with several online users posting AI-generated memes and claiming to have discovered her whereabouts.
Confusion spread online after the global news outlet The Guardian incorrectly reported that the animal was found safely following a community-wide search. The article appeared to cite a local news outlet.