H  A PARALLEL SEARCH FOR A MISSING PANDA 

S1  This article is part of TIMES EXPRESS.
S2 It is a condensed version of a story that will appear in tomorrow’s New York Times.
S3 );

S4  There was an important Supreme Court ruling early in the day.
S5 An international fugitive was possibly on a flight from Moscow to Cuba.
S6 The Dow was diving.
S7 But by midday in the nation’s capital on Monday, a red panda who disappeared from the National Zoo had hijacked the news cycle.

S8  Turning to social media to help find Rusty, a raccoon-sized panda with a striped tail and a cute face, the zoo announced his disappearance on Twitter at 11:51 a.m.
S9 The message was forwarded nearly 3,000 times in an hour.
S10 In Washington, #redpanda was No.
S11 1 in trending topics on Twitter.
S12 ABC News started a blog with “live coverage” of the search.

S13  The zoo said on Twitter that its animal care staff last saw Rusty on Sunday night in his exhibit and had been combing through the nearby trees since 8 a.m. Monday.
S14 “Please help us find Rusty,” the zoo pleaded.
S15 “He could be sick and hiding.”

S16  On its Facebook page, the zoo said that Rusty, an “arboreal, territorial” creature, was most likely napping in a tree nearby.
S17 But in an ominous note, the zoo said it was possible that Rusty had been stolen.

S18  Rusty’s cause was quickly taken up online by animal lovers and Twitter wits.

S19  “Edward Snowden and Rusty the red panda relaxing on a Havana beach,” wrote J.D.
S20 Ross, referring to the American security contractor who is wanted on spying charges.

S21  “Rusty the Red Panda last seen running away from DC in the direction of a city with a decent restaurant scene,” wrote Josh Barro, the politics editor of Business Insider.

S22  Newt Gingrich, who often detoured from the campaign trail to visit zoos in his ill-fated 2012 presidential quest (his finger was once nipped by a penguin), also joined the search.
S23 “In response to red panda charges, I have an alibi,” he wrote.
S24 “Callista and I were feeding our pet elephants all evening (just a joke) help find panda.”

S25  Once again, social media proved itself a powerful dragnet.
S26 Around 1:15 p.m., a Washingtonian posted a picture on Twitter of Rusty in a patch of weeds in the Adams Morgan district.
S27 “Red panda in our neighborhood,” wrote Ashley Foughty, who identified herself as a singer and actress.
S28 “Please come save him!”

S29  Not long after, the zoo announced on Twitter: “Rusty the red panda has been recovered, crated & is headed safely back to the National Zoo!”

