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A California couple, Roselle and Jerome Martinez, is asking social media for help in hopes of finding their late daughters doll, given to her on her last birthday.
According to ABC13 Reagan and her family received a custom-made doll, personally designed by Roselle's former college roommate. Unfortunately, Reagan lived with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and polymicrogyria, died in December 2020. The doll was left behind, somewhere along the plane ride, during a family trip to Hawaii.
"We were delayed getting off the plane, and I sat my stuff back down. When they told us it was time to depart the plane, I guess I didn't grab the doll. I walked out and didn't know until I was in the hotel room." said Roselle.
They noticed the doll was missing when they went to buy a Hawaiian dress for the doll. To the family, the doll served as a memory of Reagan, and to keep their late daughter with them. It's a doll that would go anywhere they went.
"I know it's just a doll, but it's much more than that to us. It's a part of her memory." said Jerome
The doll is named "Rae-Rae" after their daughter and it has that name stitched on the bottom of it. Roselle posted a plea to Facebook to help find the doll. Since then, she's received many messages from people encouraging her to keep looking for the doll. The family sat in row 29 on June 20 on United Airlines Flight 411 that left John Wayne, Airport near Los Angeles, CA to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, HI.
"I'm just reminded of her with that doll, and holding it, and her playing with it. It was made to look like her." Roselle said.