DES PERES, Mo. – The Sugar Creek Park in Des Peres has brought many happy memories to the Deckerts, but that changed this past weekend.

Denise Deckert and her grandchildren were playing at the park on Saturday with her grandson’s stuffed animal. A 1985 original Velveteen Rabbit stuffed animal.

“It was nowhere to be found,” Denise said.

They lost the rabbit on June 17. When they realized they got home without the rabbit, they went back to look for it but it was gone. The rabbit was originally Denise Deckert’s son’s, which she bought in the late 1980s. Since then, it’s been passed down to her grandson.

“He keeps it with him through everything,” she said. “He sleeps with it, takes it everywhere, which is why we ended up at the park.”

Denise has put up posters around the park with a photo of the bunny asking anyone for help. She’s also contacted city hall and the parks department.

“I promised him that I would try to find it,” she said.

Denise is now hoping whoever took the rabbit can return it.

“It would mean so much,” she said. “It really does. It gives me goosebumps even when I say it.”

The rabbit may just be a stuffed animal, but it’s one that’s been in the family for 40 years. she wants to show her grandson that, “It’s possible for things to be lost and found.”

If you know where the rabbit might be, you can reach out to Denise Deckert at 618-207-7962.