Smoky Mountain Journal -Stolen Phone Returned To Knoxville Family With Pictures Of Terminally Ill Five-Month Old Daugther




The Great Smoky Mountain Journal Staff, Wire Reports Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 03:56 PM

Stolen Phone Returned To Knoxville Family With Pictures Of Terminally Ill Five-Month Old Daugther
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (SOURCE: WVLT) -- The Dunaway family said they were overwhelmed with grief when their phone was stolen last week. The iPhone contained the only pictures of their terminally ill 5-month-old daughter. Kirsten Dunaway said her daughter, Kyndal, stopped breathing and doctors aren't sure why. Dunaway said her daughter may not survive and she was worried about not having any pictures of her daughter while she was still healthy. "We just want to make sure we have our memories," said Dunaway. The phone was stolen from the shell gas station on Cumberland Ave. Dunaway said she sat it down briefly and when she turned around, it was gone. For several days the family pleaded for the thief to return the phone, just for the pictures. Dunaway said the phone pinged in Montgomery Village, but on Friday the phone was returned to the Shell gas station. Demetria Howell, a cashier at the gas station said she noticed it on her shift inside the store's lost and found drawer. "I got through my morning rush, I opened the drawer back up, cut it on and it said lost phone. I tried to call it from the phone a couple times it wouldn't dial out. The lady picked up and was just ecstatic like oh my God thank you so much," explained Howell. Howell said she was unsure of who brought it back to the store and placed it in the lost and found drawer. For Dunaway, the outcome is still unclear. She is overjoyed that a thief's change of heart lead to her getting memories back. "I was surprised because usually when people take a phone they don't return it, but I think they saw the story and it helped them. They understood what it meant, it wasn't about the phone it was about the pictures," said Dunaway. Hundreds of people had offered up reward money for the return of the phone and have donated blood to Kyndal. Her parents said they can't believe all the support and couldn't be more thankful. "It's really cool that she's only five months old and that all these people were trying to help," said Dunaway.