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Turtles in Movies   The Missing (2003)   Spoiler Alert ! Some of these pictures and descriptions may give away plot details that you might not want to know before watching the film.   This takes place in 19th century New Mexico. A man tries to reconcile with his estranged adult daughter after her own daughter is kidnapped. In the turtle scene, the man, his daughter, his granddaughter, and the man's two Indian friends are chasing some US Army deserters who have kidnapped young women to sell as slaves in Mexico. They stop at an abandoned adobe structure somewhere in New Mexico. The little girl sees a tortoise, picks it up, then sets it down. That's it. It's just a tortoise cameo, but since there are no tortoises native to New Mexico where this was filmed, that means it was brought to the set and put in the movie intentionally, for some reason that is not made obvious. The film shows other animals, owls, raptors, and snakes, that are used either in witchcraft or are shown as part of the Native American view of the world where animals are spirit guides. Maybe the tortoise was meant to be seen in that way.