A Riverside, Ohio City Worker With 30 Years on the Job Fished 5-Year-Old Joni’s Stuffed Animal Out of a Storm Drain About an Hour After She Lost It

The school bus was already pulling up when Joni’s stuffed cat bounced straight down a storm drain. The 5-year-old, a new kindergartner in Riverside, Ohio, climbed aboard in tears. About an hour later, a city worker with more than 30 years on the job was at her family’s front door holding the toy.

The story began on Thursday, October 22, 2026, and was reported by PEOPLE in an exclusive carried on Yahoo Life and by CafeMom. PEOPLE published its exclusive on October 29, and CafeMom followed on November 2. Both name the girl, her mother and the man who brought the toy back.

A Toss at the Bus Stop

Joni’s mother, Shannon Morrow, is a stay-at-home mom of four in Riverside. According to PEOPLE, Joni was waiting for the bus that morning with her stuffed animal, a cat named Cakey Cat from Gabby’s Dollhouse. CafeMom reports that she often took the toy to the bus stop with her.

While she was playing with the family’s cat, Joni tossed the stuffy in the air and missed the catch. Morrow said it landed nowhere near the storm drain, but somehow bounced straight down it. The school bus arrived at that moment, so Joni had to leave without the toy, and Morrow had no time to calm her before putting her on the bus.

A comfort object matters more to some children than adults might guess. Today’s Parent reports that loveys help children calm down, fall asleep and feel braver, and that starting preschool or kindergarten can make kids cling to them even more. Michelle Ponti, a pediatrician in London, Ontario, told the magazine that a comfort object helps children learn self-regulation and calming skills. Lynne Reside, a former early childhood educator, said a five-year-old bringing one along is not a big deal. The magazine adds that attachment to a comfort object often solidifies around age one, during big changes such as weaning, starting daycare or a parent returning to work.

One Facebook Comment and One Phone Call

The bus pulled away with a crying child on board, and Morrow went online for help. She posted about the lost toy in a local Facebook community group. A commenter suggested she call a number for the city. Morrow made the call that morning, and a city worker took down her address and the location of the stuffy and said he would check.

A storm drain is not a bin. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains that street gutters and storm drains drain directly to lakes, streams, rivers and wetlands, which is why it asks people to keep litter, pet waste, leaves and other debris out of them. Anything that goes in is headed for the local water system, so time matters when something small falls through the grate.

Montgomery County’s directory of Riverside contacts, published by the county’s economic development office, lists a Kevin Miller as the city’s contact for drainage and storm sewer questions.

About an hour after the call, Kevin Miller, 56, a public services employee for the city of Riverside who has worked there for more than three decades, knocked on Morrow’s door. In his hands was Joni’s stuffed cat.

“Just Doing My Job”

Miller told PEOPLE that he was only doing his job. He said he felt relieved, knowing how much the toy would mean to the little girl. CafeMom also quotes him saying the same thing, that the retrieval was simply part of the job.

For Morrow, it was more than routine. She said she was grateful to the worker for understanding the toy’s importance to her daughter, and she described Miller as a real-life Paw Patrol character, thanking him for caring about what the stuffy meant to Joni.

When Joni got home, she told her mother how thankful she was. PEOPLE reports that she compared the rescuers to Paw Patrol.

Keeping a Favorite Stuffy From Becoming a Crisis

Joni’s morning had a happy ending, but most families do not get a city crew at the door. Today’s Parent offers a few practical ideas for children who carry a special toy. Some teachers do not want loveys in class because they can be lost, damaged or unhygienic, so parents can set limits, such as keeping the toy in a backpack or the car during the day, or using it only at bedtime or on the couch.

The magazine also passes along a tip from Reside: keep an identical spare. That way one can be washed while the other is in use, and a lost favorite does not turn into a crisis.

Reside also advises reducing a child’s use of a lovey only for health reasons, and says parents should not let their own discomfort drive the decision. She describes a kindergartner who still has a comfort object as typical.

What Morrow Took From the Morning

Morrow told CafeMom that the gesture reminded her how much a simple kindness can mean to another person. It all happened in a single morning. A mother posted a question in a community group, a woman commenting on it pointed her to the right phone number, and a city employee made the trip. For a 5-year-old at the start of her school year, the result was getting her cat back before the day was out.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Mds08011, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons