North Sacramento CHP Solves Case Of Missing Toy, Reunites 'Toffee' With 3-Year-Old

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The North Sacramento CHP has responded to a lot of requests and calls for help over the years. None have been quite as rare or cute as this one.

An officer reunited a three-year-old owner and her stuffed animal after it went missing on I-80 near the Antelope Scales.

The investigation started Wednesday when Toffee, the stuffed dog, went missing. Three-year-old Cassidy had just left Grandma and Grandpa's house, riding down the freeway when she thought it would be fun to find ou t if Toffee could fly.

"We were driving in the car and he got stuck out the window, then I was so sad," said the toddler.

Mom, Claire DeCamp, said Cassidy just learned how to roll down the window in the last couple of weeks.

"Then the blood-curdling scream begins and I almost pulled over because I didn't know what had happened. I didn't know if she was hurt," said DeCamp.

DeCamp said the stuffed animal was a gift after Cassidy recently became a sister.

"She just got a little sister who is four months old, so we got Toffee to kind of be the bridge relationship between her and her sister," said DeCamp.

Claire quickly realized the "stuffy" was gone called for backup, asking North Sacramento CHP for help through Facebook to solve the case.

"I was not expecting a response back, I even said that. It was kind of like a joke with my husband, I said 'I'm going to see if I can get him back,'" she said.

Officer A.J. McTaggart with 10 years on the job, answered the call — a first of its kind for the officer.

"That can be pretty devastating. I have two young kids, if something happened like that where one of my kids got attached, I would want to do everything I could to get it back to them," he said.

Without knowing if Toffee might be on the move, bouncing around the freeway, Officer McTaggart started to investigate. He drove down both sides of the freeway where the toy was last spotted. McTaggart shocked himself when he found the stuffed animal right near the center divider close to where Toffee took the tumble.

"I'm a minute from giving up and I'm looking 'Like wait a minute, what is that right there?' I have my lights on and get out and there is Toffee!" said McTaggart.

The officer reunited the stuffed animal with Cassidy after performing first aid on the stuffy that lost its leg. Cassidy doesn't seem to mind and is just glad he is back in her arms.

"He got a band-aid and I love him," she said.

When they were reunited, Cassidy exchanged a handwritten thank you letter to the officer with the words "I love you" in exchange for Toffee.

"It was like a nice little ray of sunshine to be able to find something that I know this little girl treasured," said McTaggart.

An amazing rescue for a little girl and a save her mom will never forget.

"It was a Hail Mary on my end, I knew it was a long shot," DeCamp explained. "I think it is amazing, our law enforcement officers have done a great job," she said.