Grandmother Josie Hinkley is pleading for the photographs of her deceased grandson to be returned following the loss of her daughter's iPhone on Tuesday at The Base in Hamilton.

'My daughter recently lost her baby boy at the tender age of one month and two days old,” says Josie.

'We went to two shops at The Base – Te Rapa in Hamilton, between 5.30pm and 6.30pm on Tuesday night. She had the phone in the car when we got there but didn't have it when we returned to the car. It has all 250 plus baby pictures on it and they are not saved to her cloud as it was full.

'These pictures are all she has left of her little angel.”

Josie says she and her daughter visited the Te Rapa Warehouse and the Pop Stop at The Base.

The pale green iPhone as well as bank cards and driver's licences for both her daughter and her daughter's partner are now missing.

'She knew it was missing by 6.30pm as she tried to ping it and it had already been turned off,” says Josie.

'We asked the Warehouse if they'd had the phone handed in but they hadn't.”

They initially thought the iPhone had been left in the changing room of the Te Rapa Warehouse but on returning and checking with staff and looking at CTV footage, it's clear that the iPhone wasn't taken into the changing room.

Josie's grandson was born prematurely about three weeks ahead of his due date.

'He was a small baby only 4lb 7 oz at birth. They woke up and found him unresponsive, and tried CPR but couldn't revive him,” says Josie.

'The post-mortem says its undetermined cause of death so assume it's SIDS – sudden infant death syndrome.”

The bank cards belonging to Josie's daughter and partner have been cancelled, and both their driver's licences are also missing. All four cards were inside the case of the iPhone. These can be reinstated but it is the photos of the baby that are irreplaceable.

'I am trying desperately to get these precious memories back for her, I would even be happy if whoever has it just emails the pictures to me or someone else! Could you help us please?” says Josie.

Josie Hinkley can be contacted on 021 128 9267.