MCINTYRE, Ga. — It all seemed lost for a young boy from Cleveland, Georgia.
Trace Loggins was returning home on a bus from a Jekyll Island trip with his 4-H Club.
However, after leaving a Chick Fil-A in Dublin on Friday, his trusty baseball cap was thrown out a window by another kid.
"Wherever I'm allowed to, and wherever I can wear it, I wear it with me all the time," Loggins said.
But it wasn't just any hat. It was given to him by Loggins' grandfather, who died from brain cancer in 2020.
"It helps me remember him," Loggins said. "I took it to Jekyll so I could feel like I was sharing the experience with him."
After the bus driver didn't stop for him to retrieve his favorite hat, he called his mom, MaryEllen Loggins, crying over what happened.
"We were so attached to my dad. We called him papa. And so when he told me that, and it just, my heart broke," she said.
At first, she tried to see if she could find a replacement online. When she couldn't find one, she threw up a plea on Facebook about the missing hat.
That plea took off, and got over 2,000 shares. Thanks to the kindness of complete strangers, a hat that was lost in central Georgia made its way back to its owner, three hours away.
Ashley Tanner from Cochran saw it after his wife shared it.
"She had actually messaged me and said you need to find that baby's hat," Tanner said. "It was just destiny that we found the hat."
He was one of many strangers in the Laurens County area on a mission to find it.
Trace Loggins thought he lost it 15 to 20 minutes past the Dublin Chick Fil-A, so many people who were looking checked the roads there.
Tanner's family was going to the lake over the weekend, and they decided to drive a little bit further when they found it in McIntyre on Smith-Starley road. That's when they called Loggins family and met up to return the hat in Milledgeville.
"Whenever he come up and grab the hat you know, it made me feel good. To be able to help somebody in a time of need," Tanner said.
When his hat was returned, Trace Loggins was in disbelief. Despite giving up hope, his memento to his Grandfather was returned.
"I was speechless," he said. "There was no words. I didn't think it would ever be found, even with the amount of people that were looking," he said.
He said he'll never forget how many people wanted to help him. The whole Loggins family want to thank everyone who shared the post and went out to search for their missing hat.
"I was just so amazed at how many people cared about me," Trace Loggins said.