Nationwide bear hunt sparked after nine-year-old loses her favourite soft toy

September 22, 2020

Hazel Howell lost Rosie the bear at Wellington Airport.

Sometimes it's the smallest things which can be the most heartbreaking, like when a child loses a much loved blanket or teddy.

Nine-year-old Hazel Howell lost Rosie the Bear at Wellington Airport and what started as two worried parents desperately searching for the toy, developed into a nationwide bear hunt.

Hazel even wrote a little song for her dear bear, leaving it on her mum's pillow.

Mum Erin Howell sparked the hunt, sending out a desperate plea.

It went through Wellington City Council, CityCare, Wellington Airport, Air New Zealand baggage, Invercargill City Council and Invercargill Airport.

"There was a sighting of Rosie at Wellington Airport, in the carpark, propped up against a pillar. So we thought yay, she's in Wellington, we know something," Erin says.

Rosie was then picked up by a man, soaking wet in the rain.

"Something stopped me, I just looked at it, I couldn't bring myself to throw it away... It reminds me of that ad on TV," CityCare's John Alefalo says.

Instead, he kept the teddy bear.

"It became my friend. Everytime I started my day I put it on the dashboard and drove around with it."

Until one day, he got an email from work. There was a mum looking for a lost teddy bear.

It was time for Rosie the Bear to come home to Hazel.

Watch the video for the full Seven Sharp story.

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