A statue that went missing from a gravesite in Kamloops has been found thanks to the efforts made by the community.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Tod Catchpole
August 10, 2021 - 7:30 AM
Efforts by some local residents has helped a Surrey family find a statue with sentimental value missing from a Kamloops gravesite and new friendships were made in the process.
When the statue of a little girl went missing from his mother's gravesite at Hillside Cemetery last week, Tod Catchpole of Surrey reached out through social media to ask for help finding it.
Catchpole said his late mother had kept the statue with her for decades as a reminder of her daughter who died at the age of 10.
READ MORE: Precious statue missing from a cemetery in Kamloops
He said he was overwhelmed by the comments of support and concern he received from the Kamloops community and Monday, Aug. 9, he received good news from resident Georgie Patterson.
"My boyfriend has been battling moles around his parents' headstone," Patterson said. "I mentioned the missing statue to him the other day. He was at the cemetery dealing with the mole problem and decided to take a look in the lost and found area where the workers put items that are moved in order to mow. Each section of the cemetery has different rules. Tod's mom is resting where they remove all items each spring. My boyfriend sent me a few pictures and in the very last one on the bottom right was the statue."
Patterson said she posted the picture on social media, received confirmation from Catchpole that it was his statue and is keeping it safe until arrangements can be made for it to be picked up.
He is grateful to the many people who helped him.
"They will never know how much it means to me and my family," he said. "There are lots of people to thank and I don't want to miss anyone who drove up there to look for it. I especially want to thank Georgie for taking it home and securing it for me until a family friend can pick it up for me. This is a wonderful, caring and great group who truly restore my faith in people, the response was absolutely overwhelming."
Catchpole says he didn't know Georgie before this happened, and he is grateful that he does now.
Hillside Cemetery declined a request for comment.
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