A mom is asking for people's help after a toy containing her son's ashes went missing on a vacation to Florida.
Iowan nurse, Liz Atkinson, took to Facebook on 6 May to ask for help in finding the stuffed elephant which had great personal value because of what it contained.
She explained that their son, Gabryel, had tragically passed away before the family could make their vacation to Disneyworld, and they took their other son Sebastyan there for his birthday.
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While he was in the ICU, Gabryel had been given a cuddly toy elephant called Bruce, which he slept with every night.
After his death, Liz and her husband kept the toy elephant in their bed and they have put Gabryel's ashes into a pouch on the toy's back.
However, the elephant went missing on a 12-day road trip in Florida and the Atkinson family cannot find Bruce despite their best efforts.
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Liz explained on Facebook that the family went to Beachside Resort in Cocoa Beach, Disney Springs in Buena Vista and the Palazzo Lakeside Hotel in Kissimmee, as well as Disney's Art of Animation resort.
Somewhere along the way Bruce the elephant went missing from the family's luggage and despite retracing their steps they have not found him.
The family have called around, filled out lost and found forms and there's still been no sign of the elephant containing a portion of their son's ashes.
Liz explained in her post that she was only sure that Bruce was missing when they got home from their vacation and started to unpack, because while they couldn't find him before she put that down to the clutter that accumulates on trips.
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The original post was made on 6 May, a few days after the family returned from their vacation, and in a later update Liz explained that Bruce at least made it with them to Disney Springs, so the elephant toy is not at Cocoa Beach.
She's hoping that someone with information or who might just have seen the toy could get in contact with her and help reunite the family with their son's ashes.
Liz suggested that the elephant either went missing on the 'orange parking ramp' at Disney Springs, 'somewhere at the Palazzo' or was mixed up in bedding which was changed by housekeeping.
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The toy elephant has got to be somewhere in the world and it would mean a great deal to the Atkinsons if he was reunited with the family.
Since making the post, there have been plenty of volunteers scouring the places the Atkinsons went on vacation in hopes of finding the toy elephant and returning him to Liz.
Joe Harker