This is a story with a happy ending. A soft, rainbow-colored ending.
But for several hours Monday, it seemed like 9-year-old Madison Grace Canup may have lost her beloved bunny forever. Monday night, the search was called off.
After a trip to the orthodontist, Madison ran errands with her mom in Gainesville. Before the two made it home, the two realized something, some bunny to be exact, was missing.
Someone apparently took it from the family’s car, Madison’s mom, Kristen, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kristen Canup admitted she doesn’t always lock the back doors of her car, but there’s usually nothing valuable left behind, she said.
“I never thought someone would steal a busted-up old bunny,” Canup said.
To Madison, Rainbow Bright Bunny isn’t just any old bunny. The 5-year-old soft friend offers security and calmness to the girl, who lives with autism, her mother said.
“I have one distraught, heartbroken, extremely sad, scared little girl right now because she may never see her bunny again….and there’s nothing I can do to make it better,” Canup posted on both her Facebook page and that of the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
Dozens of people shared the post featuring a picture of the missing bunny. Canup drove back through the shopping centers she and her daughter had visited in hopes of spotting the Build-A-Bear creation, but the bunny was not located.
Offers to replace the bunny were kind, Canup said. But there’s no real replacement for her daughter’s bunny, so she’s hopeful someone will return it.
“She would definitely know if I tried to swap it out,” Canup said.
Late Monday, the little girl’s prayers were answered. Someone found the bunny and turned it in, and Madison and her bunny were reunited. The family isn’t sure who took the bunny or who found her, but it doesn’t matter since she’s been found.
The bunny was being held tightly and was not available for comment.
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