A heartbroken four-year-old girl’s lost teddy bear, containing a recording of her late mother’s heartbeat, has sparked a desperate search in Tennessee after it was mistakenly donated to a thrift shop.
The tie-dyed bear was dropped off by the girl’s father among other donations at the Goodwill Industries store in New Tazewell about 50 miles (80km) north-west of Knoxville, company officials say, and was quickly sold.
“The father came back to see if it was still there after he realized his mistake, but it was already gone,” said the communications director for Goodwill Industries Knoxville, Cindy Dodson, whose organization operates 28 stores in the state.
“Unfortunately our staff don’t know if something is donated by mistake or has sentimental value,” Dodson said. “We’re doing our best to get the word out that this little girl would like her teddy bear back, and we’re hopeful that she will.”
The audio recording of the heartbeat is the only thing the girl had to remind her of her mother, according to the local television news station WATE, which says it spoke to the girl’s father.
“My daughter’s mom passed away and her grandma made her [the] bear with her mom’s heartbeat in it,” Tylor Kennedy, the father, told the station.
Goodwill has posted notices in its network of stores and on its social media channels. The Big One, a local radio station, is also appealing to its listeners in Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia for word of the bear’s whereabouts.
The station posted an update to Facebook on Monday containing what it said was a video of the bear with the heartbeat recording provided by the girl’s grandmother. “The bear is still most likely in the tri-state area,” it said.
Dodson said she was certain that whoever had bought the bear would be happy to reunite it with its real owner.
“The community where the store is, it’s very tight, very friendly, and I’m sure the word is getting out,” Dodson said.
“But this is a rural area where not everyone has access to computers or social media, so we appreciate everyone’s help in letting folks know that this little girl is missing her very special teddy bear.”
