A Nova Scotia family says there'll be a bit of a cloud hanging over their Christmas this year unless they can return some gifts to a senior who has who misplaced them.

Although he rarely uses a computer, Danny Boudreau is spending a lot of time online lately looking for the elderly man who couldn’t find his light-blue Jeep in the parking lot at Dartmouth’s Mic Mac Mall, one of the biggest shopping malls in Atlantic Canada.

While his wife Darlene was picking up a few things inside, Danny Boudreau struck up a conversation with an older man who seemed to have lost his vehicle in the sprawling parking lot.

“I said, ‘listen, I'll help you out. Do you want to drive around?'  and he said, ‘well, I'll give you $20,’” Boudreau said. “I said, ‘I don't want your $20. Just get in the car, I'll drive around and we'll find your vehicle.’”

Friendly and chatty, the man mentioned his age -- 78 -- but didn't offer a name as they circled the lot.

Eventually, they spotted the Jeep on the other side of the parking lot, but when the man left Boudreau’s vehicle, he forgot to take the bag he'd tossed into the back seat -- the one that's now sitting under the Boudreau's Christmas tree.

Boudreau has been sharing the story on social media and has garnered plenty of likes and retweets, but no solid leads on who the man is.

It's all left Darlene more than a little heartsick.

“I barely slept,” she said. “(I was) checking the Facebook messages to see if someone had gotten in contact with me. But, what if this is gifts for special people? What if he's a veteran?”

Danny Boudreau, a retired military man, has turned this into a special Christmas mission.

“It would be great to get him back his presents,” he said.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko.