Ohio girl's balloon message for late father found 850 miles away

NEWTON, Mass. - Every year, Tiffani Rios and her daughters Isabella and Elizabeth visit their father on his birthday - the only way they know how.

"They talk to him, we write on balloons and then we fill them with helium and they send them out so they can reach him in heaven," Tiffani told CBS Boston station WBZ.

Pfc. 1st Class Gustavo Rios-Ordonez died five years ago this month. He was only 25 when he stepped on an IED while serving in Afghanistan, WBZ reported.

Isabella and Elizabeth weren't even out of diapers yet.

"It makes me feel good that they want try to talk to him," said Tiffani.

Gustavo left his native Columbia and moved to America when he was 21. He enlisted shortly thereafter.

Tiffani has made it her life's mission to make sure her children know their father. But this year, while standing at her husband's headstone, she could never have known just how many people would learn about him, too.

One of those little balloons traveled all the way from Eaton, Ohio, to Newton, Massachusetts, 850 miles away. It fell into the hands of a woman who took to Facebook because she knew she had stumbled upon more than just a balloon.

The Newton woman posted on Facebook that she had found a balloon, which read, "I love and miss you daddy. Eaton, Ohio."

"It's amazing," said Tiffani. "I did not think anyone would find the balloon."

The balloon had May 25, 2016, written on it, and was signed only from "Elizabeth."

The woman posted a photo of the balloon on the Facebook page for the VFW Post in Eaton, asking if anyone could help let Elizabeth know how far her balloon had traveled.

Facebook users shared the photo more than 58,000 times.

"I did not think it would go that far," said Tiffani. "I figured maybe Kentucky or Indiana or something, close to where we're at."

In a post on Thursday, VFW Post 8066 in Eaton said the girl's grandmother saw the picture within hours of it being shared.

"We told them that he was sending a message back, that he received the balloon and that he still loves them," said Tiffani. "It's really nice for people to even wonder about him, because he wasn't even from here and he died for this country."

The woman who found the balloon told WBZ she would find a special place for it - she just wasn't sure where yet.