Ryan Reynolds Offers $5,000 Reward For Woman's Stolen Stuffed Bear

Actor Ryan Reynolds has offered a CA $5,000 (£2,900) reward for the return of someone's stuffed teddy bear after it was stolen from the back of a moving van in Canada.

Deadpool star Reynolds had seen news circulating about the toy, which turned out to have huge sentimental value for its owner, a 28-year-old woman called Mara Soriano.

Soriano's mother Marilyn Soriano sadly died last year, but shortly after she went into a hospice, her voice had been recorded and placed inside a custom Build-a-Bear stuffed toy, saying: "I love you I'm proud of you, I'll always be with you."

However, the teddy disappeared when Soriano and her fiancé were unloading a U-Haul van in Vancouver last Friday (24 July). She had been distracted after receiving a call from a friend who had been coming over to help, but had been hit by a work van not far away.

Retweeting a tweet from CBC reporter Deborah Goble, which said the bear was in a backpack when it was stolen along with an iPad, Reynolds said: "Vancouver: $5,000 to anyone who returns this bear to Mara. Zero questions asked. I think we all need this bear to come home."

Soriano's 53-year-old mum, who had cancer, had recorded the message when she went into a hospice.

The bag was only unattended for a few minutes, but in that short time it went missing - along with her cherished stuffed animal.

"Lo and behold on the security footage, this guy was seen looking around, making sure nobody was looking first," Soriano told the CBC.

"And he just took the bag and ran."

She continued: "At hospice her voice was different. Much softer. Not the mom I grew up with.

"That bear is the last memory I have of her speaking in her normal voice. She said that she loved me and she was proud of me and that she'll always be with me."

Mara Soriano

Along with the bear and the iPad, Soriano's bag also contained important documents including a book of blank cheques, her citizenship card, her and her fiance's passports, and social insurance cards, along with a Nintendo Switch.

However, Soriano isn't bothered about getting any of her other belongings back; she just wants the bear.

"It just makes me feel devastated," she said. "I'm absolutely crushed."

Topics: World News, Entertainment, Celebrity, News, Ryan Reynolds, Canada

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman