A teddy bear nicknamed "dad" travelled over 1,000 miles to reunite with its three-month-old owner after getting lost on a road trip.<br /><br />Natalie Balmer, 25, and her daughter, Violet Boyer, were enjoying a day out in Hershey, Pennsylvania, US, when the mum-of-one noticed Violet's bear had gone missing.<br /><br />They were visiting Natalie's hometown from Pensacola, Florida, US, during her maternity leave and were getting into the car on May 28 when the bear disappeared.<br /><br />Both Violet and Natalie were "very upset" at the loss of the bear as they carry it with them to represent Violet's dad, Brock Boyer, 25.<br /><br />Brock was stationed in South Korea as part of the US Air Force one week before Natalie found out she was pregnant in July 2022.<br /><br />He was allowed to return home for three weeks in March when Violet was born - but has since not been able to return to see his family.<br /><br />Natalie, who works in IT, said: "That bear is so special because we carry it around and call it her dad.<br /><br />"He's away in the military so we like to bring the bear and take pictures with it. We send it to her dad and tell him he came here with us.<br /><br />"It's so he feels like he's still a part of what we do so it's very important to us.<br /><br />"Violet loves the bear. Whenever we say do you want to bring dad with us she get's so excited.<br /><br />"We were on a day out in Hershey park and on the way to breakfast when we noticed the bear wasn't in the car anymore.<br /><br />"We looked everywhere and couldn't find it anywhere.<br /><br />"I was really upset. Violet's still very young so I don't know whether she realised but the bear is a comfort for me as well. <br /><br />"Having Brock so far away is hard so I was sad to lose it and he was sad too when I told him."<br /><br />After searching everywhere, Violet's grandma, Carianne Nicole, wrote a post on Facebook asking if anyone had seen the bear.<br /><br />The post, which was shared thousands of times, asked people to let them know if they spotted "Dad".<br /><br />A few days later, she received a message from a family in New York who had thankfully found the teddy bear.<br /><br />The family could tell the bear was "significant" so decided to pick up the teddy bear and keep it.<br /><br />They happened to see Natalie's mother's Facebook post and then posted the bear 1,200 miles from New York to Pensacola, Florida.<br /><br />Natalie said: "A family all the way from New York had found the bear leaving a museum.<br /><br />"I've never spoken to them myself but they got in touch with my mom and said they knew it must hold sentimental value so kept it.<br /><br />"The post was shared over three thousand times but it's still amazing that someone all the way in New York happened to see it.<br /><br />"They posted it to us and we got it back on June 15.<br /><br />"Violet was so excited when I laid it down next to her again. She had the biggest smile on her face and was giggling.<br /><br />"I was crying. I was so excited to have it back and be able to continue to take him with us everywhere we go.<br /><br />"We're hoping Brock will be home next month but for now we're so happy to have 'dad' back."
