Balloon from ceremony honoring fallen officer found in Pennsylvania

LYONS, Ill. (WLS) -- A helium balloon from a local ceremony to honor a fallen police officer ended up all the way in Pennsylvania.

Officer Tito Rodriguez's family was celebrating what would have been his 30th birthday on Saturday in Lyons. Rodriguez was killed two years ago in a traffic accident on his way to work. At the celebration, the family released balloons in his honor.

A woman from Pennsylvania found one of those balloons in her boyfriend's backyard.

The woman in Pennsylvania went on Facebook with a photo of the balloon, and word got back to the Rodriguez family.

"His mantra was doing big things. And this situation with the balloon reaching, you know, Pennsylvania is just like wow, it's just a plain balloon. But I think it's basically his way to just pass on that he's doing big things," says his father, Tito Rodriguez, Sr.