4-foot long lizard reunited with family after disappearing in Edmond neighborhood

EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) — A happy ending to some tense moments for one metro family after their 4-foot long lizard disappeared. It happened while Sheridan Seifried brought her blue tegu lizard, Shimo, over to her brother's house for a visit Monday night.

"We were in the backyard. He was sunning himself, and we left for maybe five minutes to welcome Charlotte home...turned around, and he was gone. That's odd because he is very large," said Sheridan Seifried, who lost her lizard.

Shimo has only been part of Seifried's family for three months.

"He's very sweet. He likes people. He's a late sleeper. He doesn't get up till 11 or 12, but he went missing, and now we're just looking for him," said Seifried.

Seifried believed he escaped through the fence in the backyard and was under the neighbor's deck.

However, after looking under the deck with a flashlight, she began to lose hope.

"I was pretty convinced that, like, something terrible had happened and he was gone," said Seifried.

She searched high and low in the Bristol Park neighborhood, but Shimo was nowhere to be found.

"I would love to hold him again. I miss him," said Seifried.

On Tuesday afternoon, News 4 texted Seifried for an update and got a message back with good news.

Shimo had been spotted, safe, under the same deck they were looking under before.

"I just took a look to the outside of the yard and his head popped up on the other side of the deck and I freaked out," said Seifried.

Finding Shimo gave her a big sigh of relief.

"For the last eight hours, I have been quaking inside because I have been worried about him," said Seifried.

The two were reunited as Shimo crawled through the grass once again.

"I can't tell you how happy I am just to see him. He's my...my child, my baby, my sweet lizard boy," said Seifried.

She said now she wants to see if it's possible to get her lizard chipped so she can find him easier if this ever happens again.