Have You Seen This Thomas?

My 4 year old lost her best friend a couple of weeks ago.  One night, she was snuggled up with her favorite bedtime buddy, Thomas the Tank Engine, at a hotel in Dallas, TX, and the next day, we arrived home to find that Thomas was missing.  We've called the hotel twice.  The first time proved fruitless, but we couldn't help calling again, and now I'm awaiting a phone call from the manager, who was asking housekeeping to do a thorough check for us.

Isabelle has been OK with her missing Thomas so far, because we keep saying "Don't worry, we'll find him."  But now that so much time has passed and we can't find him, she's starting to get upset.  At night, she cries and cries for her Thomas.

She worries about him.  She says he's alone somewhere, all by himself.  He's lost!  

But of course, she's mainly just sad for herself because she misses him.  We're scouring the internet to find another one just like him, but that's proving more difficult than you'd think.  She's OK with getting a replacement and dreams of going to "The Thomas Store" to find another one.  ??  I only wish it were that simple.

If you happen to have a Thomas like this one that your child isn't playing with (and I know you in person) or  you know where I can find another one, please let me know.

Unfortunately, I didn't buy this one, so I don't even know what company makes him.  Some dear friends moved away two years ago and gave this Thomas to us, along with some other toys, so he was already several years old when she got him.  He's been her best bud ever since.

Fortunately, we have tons of pictures of Thomas.  Her Leap Pad photo album looks like a shrine to Thomas, and she has a gazillion pictures of him in various poses and in different settings.

Defining Features

Sweet Face

My daughter saw this picture and said "There's my Thomas with his sweet happy face!"  

Size & Function

This isn't your typical little wooden Thomas train.  I've got about 8 of those here at home.  This is a larger one, about 7 inches long and a few inches wide.  When you pull him backwards, he rolls forward.  He's not the same as this pull back racer, because their stated dimensions show that he's not big enough to be Isabelle's Thomas.

 Color

You'll notice that her Thomas had grey on the top of his bumper/buffer, whatever that thing is.  (grey, not gray--after all, he is British).  

Oddities

We have no idea what that tiny plug thing is on his back side, but it's always been there.  Perhaps he connected to something?  

Other Views

That's an important whistle.  When Isabelle was 2, we would have conversations that went a little something like this:

Train whistle sound.  Wooo wooooooooo
Isabelle:  Mommy, say "whose that sound?"
Me:  What's that sound?
Isabelle, in a tiny Thomas voice:  It's me, mommy!  Inevitably, he would be hiding, poking out from underneath the sofa or my bedskirt.

Update:  As I was about to hit "publish" on this post, the hotel manager called to let us know that Thomas has been found!