ST. CLOUD — It was a small error, a case of mistaken car-dentity.
A little girl’s favorite teddy bear got placed in the wrong car, a white Cadillac SUV, the same make and model as her family’s. And just like that, it was gone, along with the girl’s other belongings: other stuffies, a ski jacket and a sparkly pink Kindle.
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The girl, Willow, and her family had been dining at Copper Kitchen in St. Cloud on Sunday, Dec. 29, and a family member put the items, including the appropriately named Teddy, in the wrong car. Willow’s mom, Denise Ziebarth, of St. Cloud, tried to find the items.
“I got a phone call — several phone calls — from the mother about how important this teddy bear was and that (her daughter) brought it with her to and from school,” said Copper Kitchen owner Maddie Waseka. “It just kind of became something that we all focused on.”
Ziebarth posted about it on Facebook that afternoon. Waseka shared the post on the Copper Kitchen Facebook and a St. Cloud community page.
By Monday afternoon, Dec. 30, the group post had more than 360 shares and nearly 160 emoji reactions.
“Oh, poor pumpkin! I hope she finds it!” wrote one commenter. “Praying she gets it back,” wrote another. Another person suggested tracking the Kindle to find the lost items. Waseka promised everyone to keep them updated.
By 8 p.m. Sunday, Waseka got a phone call. A woman said that somebody from their church found items left in their car and thought maybe somebody in the church had placed them there. The items had been taken to Shepherd of the Pine Lutheran Church in Rice.
“I was able to get a hold of the mom, and it sounds like the little girl was so incredibly grateful to get her teddy bear and her stuffies and her coat and everything,” Waseka said.
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Waseka said they’ve had customers lose things before, but nothing of that sort of sentimental value, or in the strange way Teddy got misplaced.
Willow’s family traveled up to Rice, and the Rev. Tim Schiller helped reunite Willow with Teddy.
“The mom was so eternally grateful to us,” Waseka said. “Her daughter cried when she finally got it back. And it's one of those things, as a parent, it is your child's world.”
Waseka shared the good news with the Facebook community.
“THANK YOU EVERYONE!” she wrote. “This little girl got her teddy bear back this evening! We found it thanks to everyone who shared! I love this community ❤️❤️.”
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