Woman who lost cherished stuffed leopard at T.F. Green looks for help finding ‘Leppy’

WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) — From California to London, all the way to Paris, Leppy the stuffed leopard has been on many of journeys with Kelly Buckler.

And now Buckler is hoping against hope someone here in Rhode Island knows where Leppy is, so that tradition can carry on.

Buckler lost her favorite stuffed animal at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport in August.

She was in the area to attend a family funeral in Connecticut.

As she always did, Buckler flew with Leppy, who was a gift from her father when she was 5-years-old.

“She’s been a lot of places,” Buckler said. “She wants to see the world.”

It was as Buckler left town, headed back home to Wisconsin, that Leppy went missing.

Buckler said that at some point, after visiting a vending machine and a magazine store, she realized her stuffed companion wasn’t in its usual spot atop her tote bag anymore.

That set off some frantic moments, with Buckler retracing her steps inside the airport, hoping to spot her spotted friend of 20 years.

Unfortunately, she had no luck.

“It’s just weird to own something for so long and then not have it anymore,” she said.

Buckler got in touch with lost and found at the airport, but the thirty-day window associated with her report came and went, with no sign of Leppy.

She also got some traffic on social media posts, but still, no Leppy.

“I’m old enough that I can accept not having her, but also, I just kind of want to know what happened,” Buckler said.

If you do spot Leppy in the wild, you’ll notice she’s well-loved, Buckler said.

“She’s got a couple surgeries,” she said. “Her ear got chewed by my dog. There was a seam on her back leg that’s stitched up really badly with red thread that I just did really quick. You can tell she’s been through some stuff.”

If you think you can help find Leppy, send us an email at news@abc6.com we’ll follow up with you and her.