An RCMP teddy bear believed to be missing in action has made it from Nanaimo to Newfoundland after all.
On Sunday morning, Const. Gary O’Brien of Nanaimo RCMP community policing put out a press release asking if anyone knew of the bear’s whereabouts, noting its last confirmed location was Williams Lake, B.C.
“The last we heard of Bear was that he was dropped off at a restaurant at the Coast Hotel in Williams Lake,” O’Brien said.
The Nanaimo RCMP introduced Nanaimo Bear to the public in the summer of 2018 as a social media experiment.
Read more: Nanaimo RCMP teddy bear looks forward to cross-Canada travels
He was equipped with signage sewn into his fur to let the public know he was ready to set off and headed for Newfoundland to dip his paws in the ocean.
In September the bear got a kick start on his adventure and rode with local Mounties to B.C.’s Interior.
Coast Fraser Inn manager Kelly Martin said she and other staff members spent time with the bear.
“One of our guest services workers, who also works for a security company, drove it around town,” Martin said. “She got its picture taken in her security car at Scout Island and then had it sitting on our front desk for awhile. We were looking for someone that we trusted who could take it out east because we knew they were trying to get it out to Newfoundland.”
As of early Monday, Martin did not know where the bear was.
No sooner had Martin finished telling the Tribune she feared it had gone missing in Williams Lake, when an e-mail arrived from O’Brien telling her he had just heard from the RCMP in Newfoundland that the bear has arrived “on the rock.”
#NanaimoBear made it to Newfoundland! RT @rcmpnl: @NanaimoRCMP I have traveled far and I am feeling best kind! I know I am in for a time on the rock! From the west coast to the most easterly point of Canada. Keep watching, I will be a busy Bear! pic.twitter.com/n8rlKfYxte
— City of Nanaimo (@cityofnanaimo) January 28, 2019
Happy to learn Nanaimo Bear actually made it to Newfoundland, Martin said she did not know how it had got there.
“Honestly it’s beyond me,” she added.
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