The teddy bear that was lost in Glacier National Park last year has been returned to its owner: NPR
Naomi Pascal hugs Teddy during a hiking trip in 2020.
Ben Pascal
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Ben Pascal
Naomi Pascal hugs Teddy during a hiking trip in 2020.
Ben Pascal
It’s every kid’s worst nightmare: While hiking in the fall of 2020, Naomi Pascal, 5, lost her beloved teddy bear. But neither Naomi nor her parents knew, she and her bear were destined for a happy ending.
Naomi and her parents, Ben and Addie Pascal, were hiking the Hidden Lake Trail in Montana’s Glacier National Park in October 2020 when they lost Naomi’s beloved bear, “Teddy,” according to one Facebook post from the park. And Teddy isn’t just any bear: it was the first gift Naomi’s parents gave her before she adopted her. It was 2016, and she was still living at an orphanage in Ethiopia at the time.
“She had Teddy before she met us,” Ben Pascal said in an interview with NPR.
Ben and Naomi Pascal with Teddy in 2016.
Ben Pascal
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Ben Pascal
Ben and Naomi Pascal with Teddy in 2016.
Ben Pascal
Ben and Addie had high hopes for the bear to show up in the days following the rally, but it never worked out. And because they were hiking near the end of the season, in the days leading up to heavy snow, time would soon run out. Despite repeated checks with the rangers and lost and found, Teddy’s whereabouts remain a mystery, and Pascal’s family has no chance but to return home to Wyoming without without him.
It wasn’t until a random encounter the following year, in October 2021, that everything changed. A family friend was visiting the park when he happened to see Teddy sitting on the dashboard of a rangers truck, according to the Glacier National Park post.
“They weren’t even looking for Teddy at the time. They just happened to meet [him],” Pascal said.
As it turns out, Ranger Tom Mazzarisi, the bear activity supervisor (actually), caught the teddy bear earlier that year after the snow melted. He didn’t know about its plot, but still felt compelled not to throw it out. Instead, he kept the bear and it rode with him in his truck as an unofficial mascot, the park said. The family friend discovered Teddy was able to contact the park rangers, who then made sure they were able to bring the bear home again.
On October 6, nearly a year after Teddy died, Naomi, now 6, was reunited with her bear. And not surprisingly, Naomi was delighted to have her friend back, her father told NPR.
“She’s so excited. So happy. She’s only said the same thing three times,” Teddy! Teddy! Teddy! ” “I said.
Naomi and Teddy’s story was shared to Glacier National Park’s Facebook page last month and has since garnered more than 12,000 likes. It was the kind of attention Ben Pascal never expected to receive, but also something he understood. It’s a “beautiful story,” he admits.
“I think people have a deep connection to stuffed animals and what they mean to us.”
