Heather Pelat – FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (MEDIA GENERAL) -- A little girl has been reunited with her teddy bear after last week's mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Courtney Gelinas' mother, Kim Lariviere, tweeted a picture of the daughter's bear, Rufus, on Monday, saying he was left at gate D8 in Terminal 2 as frantic travelers fled as shots were fired Friday.
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She asked the public and the Broward County Sheriff's Office for help finding him, pleading that her "crying daughter cannot sleep."
@browardsheriff Looking for Rufus from Terminal2 D8. Crying daughter cannot sleep. #FLLshooting help! pic.twitter.com/fMoVPwiFq5
— Lariviere (@klariviere3) January 9, 2017
Her post was retweeted by the Broward County Sheriff's Office and less than 24 hours later, the airport's Twitter account contacted Lariviere, saying they had found him.
"OMG!!!! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!!!!" Larviere responded via Twitter.
@klariviere3 - We found #Rufus! We have your contact info from when you called our hotline. We'll DM you. @browardsheriff #FLLShooting https://t.co/mJOq9h4AJ7
— Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Int'l Airport (FLL) (@FLLFlyer) January 10, 2017
"One happy kid!" she tweeted a few minutes later.
Rufus has been located!! Thx for sharing everyone. One happy kid!💜💜
— Lariviere (@klariviere3) January 10, 2017
Lariviere and her daughter went to the airport Tuesday afternoon where they were reunited with Rufus.