A mum has pleaded for help with people across the state of Florida after she lost a stuffed elephant that contains some of the ashes of her son who died recently.
The family from Iowa, went to Florida as part of a tribute to their late son Gabryel, who died before he was able to visit Disney.
During his hospitalisation, Gabryel was given the blue elephant called ‘Bruce’ and it became his favourite toy, now containing some of his ashes.
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So, after Gabryel’s death the toy came on the family’s journey to Florida with them, but it didn’t come back, sadly.
In an emotional Facebook post, Gabryel’s mum spoke about how she ‘needs’ to get the elephant, imploring the people of Florida to keep their eyes out for him.
Liz Atkinson wrote: “The trip was a bit hectic with 3 different cities and hotels and grief brain kicked in at some point with all of the emotions, making me really struggle with simple memory tasks.
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“Because vehicles get messy on trips, I kept thinking maybe he was just mixed in somewhere (very unlike me, I know where everything is 100% of the time even on trips, thank you grief) but once we got home May 1 I searched EVERYWHERE.
“Every bag.
“He’s gone.”
She then shared a number of places that they visited on their journey, hoping that someone in Central Florida might be able to help.
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Bruce came boat parasailing at the seaside resort of Cocoa Beach with them, and the family stayed in a hotel at the same resort, before moving to the Palazzo Lakeside Hotel in Kissimmee, as well as visiting Disney Springs.
Atkinson continued: “I don’t recall ever carrying him from the vehicle to our hotel room (usually he would’ve been packed inside the suitcase but because of parasailing he wasn’t).
“It was storming so we split up bringing things in into many trips.”
After staying in Kissimmee, the family went to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort on 25 April, staying on until 30 April.
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However, Bruce could not be found there, either.
In the Facebook post, which has since been shared more than 3,800 times, Atkinson asked for anyone who knows anything to get in touch with her.
She said: “If you’ve found Bruce or saw him around any of these locations, please PM me!!! I need him back.
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“I really think he is probably somewhere in the parking lot near cocoa beach parasailing, the palazzo, or the orange parking ramp of Disney springs maybe from falling out of the car.”
Here’s hoping they can find Bruce - if you know anything, you can get in touch here.
Tom Wood