Family Desperately Searches For Missing Toy Elephant That Holds Their Little Boy’s Ashes

We often take things that mean something important to us when we go on vacation. It’s our way of feeling a little closer to home when we may be so far away.

Liz Atkinson also did this when she was on vacation with her family to Florida. She took along a stuffed elephant, but this was no regular stuffed toy. It contained a bag inside that held the ashes of her son.

Unfortunately, there was some confusion along the way and they lost the stuffed elephant. They are now pleading for help to find the toy and bring it back home again.

According to TODAY, Gabryel, Atkinson’s son, died last year when he was only seven years old. He had constant health problems during his short life due to a chromosomal abnormality and struggled through more than 50 procedures.

One of the most important things to Gabryel was a stuffed elephant and it was always by his side. That elephant, named Bruce, was given to him when he was in the NICU as a baby.

The Atkinson’s knew that they should keep Bruce and Gabryel together, so some of their son’s ashes were inserted into the elephant after he passed away.

Liz shared on Facebook that they’d always wanted to take their son on vacation in Florida, but he died before they were able to go. They took the toy with them to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, but the elephant was misplaced.

In the Facebook post, they spoke about how they took Sebastyan, their surviving son, on a trip to Disney. They stopped in three different cities and hotels along the way, and grief had kicked in, making simple memory tasks difficult.

Each of the hotels and resorts where they stayed was contacted. They also filled out the lost and found forms with Disney.

They thought that the animal was in the car somewhere but when they got home, it was missing. The mother is desperate to get him back again.

One of the places they searched was where they stopped for parasailing. The parasailing company helped them search, but they are certain Bruce was in the car after that time and not dropped in the parking lot.

More than likely, they either lost Bruce at the Art of Animation Resort, or The Palazzo. We hope they get Bruce back again soon.