Mom Buys Stuffed Bear for Son with Late Father's Voice. When She Gets the Wrong Package, She Turns to TikTok for Help (Exclusive) Jordan GreeneJanuary 24, 2026 at 5:12 AM 0 Mariah Austin Azriel Palomino with latedad Antonio Palomino; BuildABear Antonio Palomino passed away on Nov. 28, 2025. Since then, his 9yearold son, whom he shared with Mariah Austin, has grieved the loss of his father To help her son grieve, Austin decided to create a custom BuildABear featuring her late partner's voice Mariah Austin just wanted to give her son a way to say goodnight to his dad.
- - Mom Buys Stuffed Bear for Son with Late Father's Voice. When She Gets the Wrong Package, She Turns to TikTok for Help (Exclusive)
Jordan GreeneJanuary 24, 2026 at 5:12 AM
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Mariah Austin
Azriel Palomino with late-dad Antonio Palomino; Build-A-Bear -
Antonio Palomino passed away on Nov. 28, 2025.
Since then, his 9-year-old son, whom he shared with Mariah Austin, has grieved the loss of his father
To help her son grieve, Austin decided to create a custom Build-A-Bear featuring her late partner's voice
Mariah Austin just wanted to give her son a way to say goodnight to his dad.
Austin, a 28-year-old advanced EMT in Arizona, shared her 9-year-old son, Azriel, with Antonio Palomino, who passed away on Nov. 28, 2025. In the weeks after his death, she searched for a small comfort her son could hold onto when grief felt overwhelming.
That's when she thought of Build-A-Bear.
"I remembered you can put voice recordings in them," Austin tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I thought if I got him a bear to cuddle at night, he could always tell his dad, 'Goodnight, I love you.' "
Mariah Austin
Azriel Palomino with late-dad Antonio Palomino
Finding the right recording wasn't easy.
After digging through old videos, Palomino's mother located a usable audio clip from his indoor cameras — a familiar snippet of his voice. Austin ordered the bear, hoping it would bring her son some peace.
But when the package arrived, something felt off.
"I saw it get dropped off on my Ring camera and immediately knew it wasn't right," she says. "The box looked too small, but I tried to stay optimistic."
When she opened it, her heart sank. Inside was a pink Build-A-Bear — not the one she had ordered. "I was devastated," Austin says. "I worried about who received our bear, and I felt awful knowing we had someone else's. I just wanted both bears to go to their rightful owners."
Unsure what to do next, Austin turned to TikTok.
She had done it once before — posting a video asking for help finding her labor and delivery nurse, and it worked, albeit on a much smaller scale. Still, she decided to try again.
"At first, nothing happened," she says. "We weren't getting views, and I started to lose hope. Then it took off, and when no one came forward, I panicked that we'd never find it."
Mariah Austin
A photo of the bear received
Eventually, TikTok did what it does best.
A creator named @bamaloungeflygirl reached out, saying she believed she had the correct bear. Even then, Austin was cautious. "I was skeptical because we'd had so much bad luck," she says. "I didn't want to get too excited."
But when the woman sent a video, and Austin heard her late husband's voice — everything changed. "I broke down crying," she says. "It was pure relief."
She adds how the woman who found the bear also shared with her that she, too, had lost her father at 11 years old.
For Austin, the bear is about more than a viral mix-up. It's about giving her son comfort in moments when he needs it most.
"He tries to be tough," she says. "But at night, when he thinks we're asleep, I've caught him crying for his dad. Now when he misses him, he'll have his bear — and his dad's voice — with him."
Looking back, Austin hopes others take something meaningful from her experience. "Don't give up hope," she says. "I went out on a whim and trusted that if TikTok could help me once, it might help me again. It felt impossible — but our bear is coming home."
Mariah Austin
A close up of the bear Mariah Austin ordered
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She also has one more piece of advice: "Please record your loved ones. Document everything. You never know when that might be the last thing you have of them."
Now, Austin is thinking about how to help other families like hers. "I'd love to start a fund for kids who've lost someone important, so they can get bears with their loved one's voices," she says. "Build-A-Bears are expensive — ours was $80 — but every child deserves that kind of comfort."
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: January 23, 2026 at 04:37PM on Source: OPERA MAG
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