'Miss him a lot': Boy pleads for 'irreplaceable' stuffed panda lost in Arizona
Panda is Teddy Cuthbert's faithful travel companion. The stuffed panda, slightly ragged through nearly 40 years of life, goes everywhere with the 11-year-old boy.
But Panda, who has been in the family for two generations, was lost on a recent trip to Arizona. Panda's loss has disheartened the entire family — his parents, triplet brothers and older brother.
"Really, really, really sad," Teddy said about missing his cherished, cuddly friend. "I miss him a lot."
The boys' mom and Panda's original owner, Christie Cuthbert, 43, described Panda as "a very, very loved lovie."
The last time Panda was seen on surveillance footage was just before sunrise April 6 as Teddy gripped on to the bear while the family left their room at Great Wolf Lodge Water Park in Scottsdale.
A day after flying back to their Northern California home, the family realized Panda was missing.
The boy was heartbroken when he realized the stuffed bear was potentially forever lost and cried incessantly for a full day.
"Teddy's that kid who doesn't want to grow up. He loves the joy of being a kid so much," said Cuthbert, who got the stuffed panda when she was 5 years old. "That's kind of fueling a bit of his emotion too. That to him, Panda represents childhood, right? And so, losing that, it's kind of symbolic for him a little bit."
The search and rescue operation, including family friends in the airline industry and in Arizona, has turned up zero leads. No lost and found that has been reached is harboring Panda it turns out.
Cuthbert said the likely site where Panda went missing is Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport where the family took a 7:30 p.m. April 6 Southwest Airlines flight out of Gate D5 after a quick stop at La Grande Orange eatery in Terminal 4. The family landed at Sacramento International Airport where they picked up their luggage and drove home in their vehicle.
The stuffed panda sports a black cap with the San Francisco Giants famed interlocked orange "SF" logo and wears a long-sleeved blue sailor's shirt with red trim. Anyone with information on the panda's whereabouts is asked to reach Cuthbert via instagram.com/christiecuthbert.
He's "had a nose job. Our dog ripped off its original nose, and so my mom sewed on a new nose," Cuthbert said. "Anybody who would see a teddy bear left behind somewhere would just immediately turn it into somebody. It's not like an iPhone or iPad. It's not something somebody would want."
Except for Teddy, who is still saddened by the loss of the family heirloom. Family friends have suggested stuffed bears found online that are similar to Panda, but Teddy has shunned the idea.
"He's a tattered little bear, but he's irreplaceable at the same time," Cuthbert said.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Missing stuffed panda mourned by boy, family after Arizona trip
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