A 4-year-old's teddy bear with a recording of her late mom's heartbeat was accidentally donated

A 4-year-old girl in Tennessee is desperately searching for a teddy bear that contains a recording of her late mother's heartbeat.

The girl’s father accidentally donated the rainbow-colored bear to a Goodwill store in New Tazewell sometime last week, according to Cindy Dodson, a spokesperson for Goodwill Industries Knoxville. It was only when his daughter asked to bring her bear to school that he realized what happened and returned to the store.

"It was a complete mistake," Dodson tells TODAY.com. "When the father came back and saw that it was sold, his heart sank."

Dodson says the woman's heartbeat was recorded approximately one year ago, before her death.

Support for the bear's rescue is scaling online as people are sharing social media posts in the hopes of spreading awareness.

The non-profit organization Goodwill Industries-Knoxville shared an Instagram photo of what appears to be a similar bear sold by Build-A-Bear. "Please help our local donor," read the post. "They accidentally donated a bear that was very sentimental to them and it was sold in our store before they realized it ... we would love to see them reunited."

TODAY.com could not verify the depicted bear was the same model, as a spokesperson from Build-A-Bear did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"It's been amazing to see customers, including regulars, ask staff about the teddy bear," says Dodson. She cannot confirm whether in-store cameras recorded the person who purchased the bear.

Family members of the girl did not immediately respond to requests for comment from TODAY.com. Dodson could not confirm the identity of the father.

A man named Tylor Kennedy identified himself as the girl's father in an interview with Knoxville news station WATE, although TODAY.com was not able to confirm the identity of Kennedy.

"My daughter’s mom passed away and her grandma made her bear with her mom’s heartbeat in it," he told the station.

“Please, if y’all find it or see anybody that has one, just check or turn it into Tazewell and I believe that somebody will get a reward if they dropped it off," he added. "I know they’ll get their money back for sure."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com