Beloved stuffed bear missing near RDU. Have you seen Pinky? $200 reward.
Riley Heitz was a baby in the hospital when she first met Pinky, making him pretty much her oldest friend — more a trusted, Hobbes-like pal than an ordinary stuffed bear.
He had pink fur, of course, and a missing right ear. But Pinky stayed close — always traveling with Riley, always sleeping with Riley, so much a comfort that she still kept him at age 22 with his fur worn slightly gray.
Which is why she’s frantic now that Pinky has vanished, lost in or around the Woodspring Suites on Airport Boulevard in Morrisville, where Riley and her boyfriend attended a wedding last weekend.
Now Lost Pinky bulletins are flooding social media, offering a $200 reward.
“He’s just lost in the wild somewhere,” said Riley’s mother, Danielle Heitz, who has six kids in all. “I feel like, ‘Are you cold out there?’ I’m sorry Pinky. I know you’re not human but ‘Toy Story’ really distorted my vision.”
Where is Pinky?
Clues are few:
Pinky was last seen at the hotel, but the staff couldn’t find him. He did go on some late-night food runs, including a nearby 7-Eleven, but Riley doesn’t remember him ever leaving the car, which she has since searched.
Any parent knows what calamity strikes a household when a child’s favorite stuffie goes missing. Fans of the Peanuts comics will recall Linus in fits of nausea while his security blanket cycled through the wash, and more contemporary parents can identify with the lost rabbit of Mo Willems’ Knuffle Bunny series.
Let’s not even talk about The Velveteen Rabbit.
The pain doesn’t ease for adults. Riley Heitz was born without several fingers, and she experienced a variety of treatments throughout her childhood. She would flick Pinky’s tail with her ring and middle finger while she sucked her thumb, and she briefly gave him up while she learned to break the habit.
Pinky is a larger, 14-inch Ty Beanie Baby with a rattle inside, available now only places like eBay. He lost his ear to a childhood mishap, but it is still present and attached in a way the Heitz family wants to keep secret in case he’s found — a detail that would prove his identity.
The Heitz family doesn’t care if Pinky got tossed away. All they need is the can’s location.
“I literally would drive eight hours and go through their Dumpster,” Danielle Heitz said. “I would literally hop in my vehicle and dig through it and see if he’s salvageable with some deep sanitizer.”
Look everywhere for missing friends. To infinity. Even beyond.
Have you seen Pinky? Call or text Danielle Heitz at 678-778-3408.
This story was originally published November 12, 2025 at 2:21 PM.