A woman moving into her new apartment in Vancouver's West End on Friday was left devastated to discover that a custom teddy bear featuring a voice recording from her late mother had been "stolen".
The beloved bear was in a bag alongside her iPad and Nintendo Switch - but 28-year-old Mara Soriano says she doesn't care about getting the gadgets back, she just wants to recover the precious recording of her mom's voice.
Speaking to CBC News, Soriano says her mother's voice was recorded and put in a custom-made Build-a-Bear teddy bear prior to her dying of cancer in June 2019 at age 53.
Mara says that as she and her fiancé were unloading their moving truck, she received a call from a friend who said that had been involved in a collision while cycling over to help them.
In her "frazzled state" she said she put down the bag that had the bear inside and leaned it against the van - before driving off to go help her friend. However, she never told her fiancé where the bag was.
In just minutes, the couple said it was missing, with Soriano saying that she believes someone stole the bag.
She revealed that after asking her building concierge to check the security footage, it showed a man taking the bag and running away.
"Lo and behold on the security footage, this guy was seen looking around, making sure nobody was looking first," she described. "And he just took the bag and ran."
But Mara said that the concierge wouldn't let her have the footage or take photos of the screen without the building manager's permission - who wouldn't be back in until Monday (July 27).
"It just makes me feel devastated," Soriano said. "I'm absolutely crushed."
Soriano told the news station how her mother recorded a message for her and had the audio put it in the bear shortly before being admitted to a hospice.
She said: "At hospice her voice was different. Much softer. Not the mom I grew up with. That bear is the last memory I have of her speaking in her normal voice.
"She said that she loved me and she was proud of me and that she'll always be with me."
Along with the bear and the gadgets, the bag also contained a book of blank cheques, her citizenship card, her and her fiancé's passports and social insurance cards. However, Soriano says she doesn't care about getting those items back - she just wants her bear.
Even actor Ryan Reynolds has taken to social media to help reunite Mara with her beloved bear - offering $5000 to the person who finds it.
Other celebrities have even taken to social media to share their support:
Soriano has filed a police report and is asking anyone who has it or sees it to bring it back, revealing that as well as being the last recording of her mother's voice, the bear is also a reminder of her home in the Philipines.
She said: "It was just absolutely crushing to me that that was the one thing that was stolen from us.
"It's a reminder of home. The bear has a message in it in Filipino. It says 'I love you,' but in our language. So it's very specific and very unique.
"I just really want to find my bear. That's all that I care about."
So, can you help Mara reunite with her bear?
