BC woman reunited with teddy bear containing her late mother’s voice recording

She has been checking dumpsters and alleys in Vancouver’s West End, and also putting up posters in the hope that her teddy bear would be returned to her.

Soriano was finally successful in her search on Tuesday night after the bear was brought back to her by two Good Samaritans.

“I'm not gonna lie, I kind of buckled. As soon as I saw (him) pull her out of the bag my knees just buckled,” she said in an interview over Skype.

“I just started sobbing and I grabbed her out of his hands and I couldn't let her go.”

The bear was stolen when Soriano was moving her possessions to a new apartment on Friday, and a post she made to social media asking for help quickly went viral. Celebrities responded to her plea for help including George Stroumboulopoulos and Ryan Reynolds—both of whom promised a $5,000 reward for the stuffed animal’s return.

Soriano's mother, Marylin was diagnosed with cancer roughly 10 years ago and gave Mara the bear in 2017 with the voice recording inside it.

The recording is special to Soriano as it is the last memory of the way her mother's voice sounded before it changed as her cancer worsened.

“It was much softer. The cancer had really eaten away at her and that bear was basically the last reminder of the mom that I knew - it was her voice that I remembered growing up,” she said.

Soriano’s mother passed away last June after receiving cancer treatment for a year-and-a-half.

“It feels so surreal like I can't believe, I can't believe it, I can't - like Mama Bear's home.”

Soriano said that at about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, she received a call from someone who claimed to have her bear and was trying to return it.

She said that she was sceptical at first but set up a “safe meeting space” with the people.

“We just waited and lo and behold, the two kind Samaritans came, and they gave Mama Bear back.”

“Not a single scratch, not a single thread is off.”

According to the Good Samaritans, they recognized the person in the video and were able to get the bear back from him.

“It's hard to let it go. I'm going to sleep with her tonight. I'm going to show her the new apartment, it's just been the wildest three hours,” she said. “It literally just happened, and I still can't believe it.”