Thousands help search for books

A DAD has been left amazed by the support he received after losing a set of Harry Potter books which belonged to his late wife.

Billy Shepherd, who owns a leaflet delivery system, accidentally donated the sentimental items to the Cancer Research charity shop on Brook Street, Broughty Ferry, where they were bought by an unknown customer.

The collection, all seven books in the series, belonged to his late wife, Veronica, who died from cancer four years ago at the age of 45.

Billy’s 16-year-old daughter, Hannah, was left “heartbroken” by the loss of the novels, which were left to her by her mother.

In an effort to get them back, the 55-year-old dad, who lives in the Ferry, launched a Facebook appeal urging whoever purchased the books to come forward.

The post has now garnered more than 7,300 shares, with many coming forward and offering to replace the family’s collection.

Billy said: “It’s amazing really, I certainly didn’t expect that level of support.

“It seems to have resonated with people a lot, we’ve had lots of offers to replace the books but we’d rather keep looking for ours.

“Still, it is amazing. I never thought we would get anywhere close to 7,000 shares.”

Despite the large amount of support they have received from the public, Billy is starting to worry that the books may not be found.

He said: “The longer we go without finding them the less optimistic I become.

“It’s been over a week now, and the only thing giving me hope is as Cancer Research is a charity shop, customers might be a little bit older which means the message could take longer to get out there.

“I was also thinking that if the person who does have the books comes forward, we would be happy to replace their set with one of the collections we have been offered.

“But even if we don’t get them back, we still really appreciate how much everyone has done to help us out.”

Billy and his daughter Hannah are still hoping for the return of the books.