Online appeal returns lost heirloom

The call was put out through social media to track down the family's missing baby blanket.

When Jacqui Rogers realised she had lost her family's fourth generation crocheted baby blanket, she tore her house apart trying to find it.

Having no luck she took to Facebook to hunt down the precious family heirloom.

Her post was shared almost 2000 times and against all odds her blanket was found this week and is now returning home.

The Ashburton mother had been attending a wedding in Featherston in February and had unknowingly left the blanket behind where it was then taken to a community store by the homestay owners.

The blanket was made by her husband's grandmother and had been passed down through the generations.

She realised it was missing at the end of last week.

"I couldn't believe it," she said.

"I pretty much tore my house to pieces trying to find it."

Mrs Rogers said it was just by chance that she contacted the Featherston homestay asking if they had seen it. "But I didn't think we had taken it with us", she said.

"They didn't have a phone contact number or anything because I had booked it online, so I just flicked an email to their email address.

"The next day she emailed back and said, I tried to email you but you never got back to us, so I dropped it off at the local community store.

"I was sort of panicking at that stage. I contacted her over and over again to try to find out where she had dropped it to, but she just never contacted me back."

That's when Mrs Rogers posted a plea for help on Facebook to help find the family heirloom.

The post was shared almost 2000 times before the blanket was found on Monday.

A Porirua woman, who saw the post after it was shared on Facebook by her friends, contacted Mrs Rogers saying, "It appears that I have your blanket".

Jacqui Rogers of Ashburton with her daughter Lauren, 6 months.

"I've just had a baby, two weeks ago, and was given [the blanket] by a family friend," the woman who found the blanket wrote.

"Isn't the power of social media amazing... I'm still just so amazed, impressed, with how this has all worked out.

"You're obviously meant to be reunited with your blanket."

Mrs Rogers said she was so relieved to have found the blanket.

"When I lose anything it's just gut-wrenching, especially when it's something that precious," she said.

"I was more guttered about the fact that we were given the blanket and we had lost it like that. It was heart-breaking, but the end result is pretty amazing."