A 4-year-old girl has been left distraught after a teddy bear containing a recording of her dead mum's heartbeat went missing - with her dad launching a desperate search.
Tylor Kennedy, from Tennessee, US, is pleading for his daughter's teddy bear to be returned after it was accidentally donated to a charity shop in Tazewell.
The toy, which is a tie-dyed rainbow teddy bear from Build-a-Bear, was given to the girl by her grandmother and features a recording of her late mum's heartbeat.
Dad Taylor told News Channel 11 when the bear's hand is pressed it makes a heartbeat noise.
He said: “My daughter’s mom passed away and her grandma made her bear with her mom’s heartbeat in it."
According to the manager of the store, it is thought the bear was brought in by a local with a bag of soft toys.
It is also believed the beloved toy may still be in the area - with CCTV being checked over by the shop.
Mr Kennedy has placed a sign in the shop window pleading for the return of the sentimental bear - and has even offered a reward for the soft toy.
He said : "Please, if y’all find it or see anybody that has one, just check or turn it into and I believe that somebody will get a reward if they dropped it off. I mean I know they’ll get their money back for sure."
According to the shop, there have been hundreds of calls and volunteers trying to get in contact to help return the bear to the young girl.
The post on Facebook has also attracted thousands of users - with many trying to spread awareness of the lost bear.
One user responded to the post and believes she might have the bear.
Brianana James said she received dozens of soft toys in a bin bag from the local charity shop at the weekend and believes it looks similar to the young girls.
She wrote: "Someone please reach out to me with more info!!! Or get me in contact with the family. I don’t know if this is there’s, but willing to contact them to try and find out. [sic]
"I opened it up and found a heartbeat, date, and other things inside."
The customer has contacted the store and is currently waiting to see if the bear matches the description.
It has led to hundreds of users on Facebook hoping it's the 4-year-old's bear.
One user wrote "I know if an account was created when the bear was purchased, they should have the recording saved. Praying they find her bear."
Another added: "We saw an identical bear on Saturday at the Seattle Goodwill Outlet. It may be worth a shot to see if any of the donation trucks left Tennessee for the west coast."
