Yellowknife (Apr 20/05) - Marc from Belleville, Ontario, is looking for a lost bear in the Northwest Territories.

It's not a grizzly or polar variety that the 12-year-old wants to find.

It's a cuddly Beany-baby bear by the name of Kanata, who Marc sent on a journey in April, 2004.

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"Please send him home if you know who has him," Marc implored from his home, Sunday. Marc's family do not want his last name used for security reasons.

After reading about a similar adventure in the book, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Marc and his mother Monique packed up Kanata in a navy blue duffel bag, with several journals and a photo album for pictures someone might want to include.

The idea was to let the bear travel about for six months while those who encountered him recorded tidbits of information about where he was and who he saw along the way.

A letter introducing Marc and his purpose was also included in the duffel bag, asking that the bear be passed around to various people.

The address of the public library was given as a contact name for safety reasons.

"I thought if I sent it around the world, that it would come back and I would learn more," Marc said.

But the adventure has turned into a sad mystery for Marc and his family.

On October 26, 2004, a postcard was hand-delivered to Marc's library in Belleville by a woman named Penny.

Addressed from Whitehorse, Yukon, the postcard indicated that Kanata was on his way to the Northwest Territories.

"It said that Kanata had had some great adventures and that today he was leaving for the NWT because Northern Canada was beautiful during that time of year," Monique said.

"And it said he would be on his way home soon," she said.

But it was then that the trail of Kanata went cold.

Although a year has passed, Marc and his family still hope that Kanata will be returned safe and sound.

Anyone who knows the whereabouts of Kanata, contact Yellowknifer or Leona Hendry, chief librarian in Belleville at 1-613-968-6731.