Holland Cokeley Finds Turtle His Son Carved Initials Into… 47 Years Later


Holland Cokeley, your story is heartwarming, but did your kid grow up to be a serial killer or something? Who carves their initials into a turtle?

Holland Cokeley’s turtle story started back in 1965, and the outcome is one of those reminders we have that we are really living in the future. The arguably sadistic act was that of then 13-year-old Jeff Cokeley, who, it would appear, did not grow up to collect macabre flesh trophies or become a night stalker.

47 years ago, the younger Cokeley must have captured what was then a baby turtle, since their lifespans are about 40-50 years. And for God knows what reason, Jeff decided that carving his initials into the turtle’s shell was a totally not cruel way to pass the time.

Fast forward nearly five decades- Holland Cokeley is now presumably an elderly man, wars have begun and ended, empires have crumbled, the internet has changed our lives forever… and the poor turtle is still walking around with Holland Cokeley’s kids initials embedded in its poor shell.

Holland Cokeley explains that he sent his son, who now lives in upstate New York, a picture of the turtle after he spotted it, still living:

“When I called him and told him, he said, ‘Wow, I thought that turtle would be dead long ago.'”

The younger Cokeley doesn’t seem too bothered by the turtle’s plight, nor his past actions:

“I pulled the pictures up on the computer. As soon as I saw it, I just started laughing… I just had to show my wife.”

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Jeff adds:

“My dad cooked him up for dinner that night.”

Um… ha ha ha? Holland Cokeley’s son adds that he was joking, and hopefully the turtle can live out its remaining years unmolested in the wilds of Western Pennsylvania. Jeez.

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