UPDATE: Philpot, Kentucky Forky Reunited with the Boy Who Lost Him

Here's an unexpected, but incredibly happy ending to a story I wrote about a couple of days ago. On Tuesday, I published a story about my friend Melody Hayden.  She and her daughters found a random, abandoned "Forky" in the parking lot at the Dollar General in Philpot, Kentucky. Forky, by the way, is a beloved character from Toy Story 4.

If you're not familiar with the character, here's the scene in which he was first introduced in the film.

At Dollar General, Melody and her girls stumbled across a Forky replica and noticed that he had been smashed up a little. Melody admitted that her "heart sank a bit" when she saw him because he looked so sad. So, she, Elizabeth and Ella decided they would come to Forky's rescue. They grabbed a napkin and made him a blanket.

The next day, they went back to Dollar General to check on him again and guess what?  He was still there. So, they spruced up his spot on the sidewalk and decided to try to get him some financial aid too.

Melody joined us on our radio show to chat about finding Forky and then we shared his rescue story online and our social media pages. By the end of the afternoon, various people were sharing photos of Forky and giving updates about his condition.

Jase Belew stopped by and snapped this fun photo with Forky.

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Christa Walker, who works at that Dollar General, was monitoring the "tips" Forky was making. By late Tuesday afternoon, he was up to 87 cents.

Well, we have some exceptionally good news to share today. Josh Morris, who lives just beyond Philpot in Whitesville, saw Forky's story floating around online. He knew that Forky looked familiar and then it occurred to him that it likely belonged to his son, Grayson. The family had stopped at Dollar General Sunday night on the way home from a baby shower. At that shower, Grayson made the Forky you're seeing in the photos. Josh figures that Forky fell out of the truck into the parking lot without them knowing it. They later realized Forky was missing, but had no clue where he was.

But now, they do!

Grayson, his little sister Genevieve and Forky were all reunited early Thursday morning.  After two days of living in the Dollar General parking lot, Forky has gone home.

Josh says Grayson "was excited to get Forky back." And, not only did he get Forky, he collected Forky's tips (a whopping $2.78) and the staff at Dollar General an official Forky kit to take home as well. If he wants to, Grayson can make himself a brand new Forky. However, I think he needs to keep this one. It has a quite a survival story to tell.