FLINT, MICH. — There’s nothing like hearing your mother’s voice and for a 4-year-old girl in mid-Michigan, that voice was stolen from her.

But more than a month later, that precious gift has been returned.

Ten months ago, mother Dawn Kristof lost her battle with pancreatic cancer.

She knew she was terminally ill, but she also knew she wanted her little girl to get to know her and to hear her voice.

Dawn recorded hours and hours of videos for her daughter, Ellie, before she was out of time.

Just one month ago, the laptop that housed those videos was stolen.

But this Thursday, it was finally returned.

“I had 100 percent given up on it,” Wally Kristof, Ellie’s father, said. “And then I got a strange phone call.”

But that strange phone call led him to the laptop, which still held all of the videos on it from Dawn.

Wally said it was the happiest ending he could give to his Ellie.

“She made the videos for you and we got them back today,” Wally told Ellie. “Remember when daddy’s laptop was stolen?”

For $500 Wally got the laptop back, but to him, it meant Ellie got a part of her mom back.

“And they’re hard to watch,” he said. “But it’s nice to see her and hear her… her voice is something I can’t relate to her in stories.”

Now, they have four hours worth of video at her fingertips, full of songs, artwork and personal messages from Dawn to Ellie.

Source: WTHR