Berkley child reunites with lost stuffed penguin after neighbor and her dog finds it

BERKLEY, Mich. (FOX 2) - A heartwarming story out of Berkley, where a young boy was distraught after losing his favorite stuffed penguin. But it was a neighbor and her dog that came to the rescue.

Pico the penguin is the special friend of Luca Trotman who is almost four years old. His parents, Zach and Jeanna, who you might recognize as a former television reporter, say Pico and Luca are inseparable. Together they met Santa and even dressed up for Halloween.

It was Luca’s first time at the zoo. He was only one and a half, when Zach got pico as a surprise. But Monday night, tragedy struck. Pico went missing after a family walk. 

"She took a couple car laps around and I took a couple laps around," Zach said. 

"It was the moment we looked at each other and were like oh my gosh," Jeanna said. 

Pico was lost. Jeanna turned to her neighbors, Loona and Lauren who took to Facebook where they found hope late into the night. A comment was left saying Pico had been seen, but there was a catch.

Her dog found it and thought it was a toy. And destroyed it," Jeanna said.

The neighbor offered a replacement, but it is impossible to replace love. With garbage day approaching, Jeanna was worried Pico may have been canned. The mom began dumpster diving for her son's friend. 

"I was just panicking thinking this penguin was going to be gone forever," she said.

Then Carol, who was the one who found pico and her dog Mitchell the one who ate him, showed up at the door.

"He ran to the door and was like pico!" she said. "She had washed Pico, sewed pico back up and brought him back over."

Reunited, the Trotmans were thankful for good neighbors.