Two childhood best friends who had lost touch for 12 years have been reunited by social media in less than 24 hours.

Brianna Cry and Heidi ‘Heii’ Tran met in 2006 on a Hawaiian cruise holiday with their families. The pair, who were both seven at the time, became inseparable for a brief time on the boat before each going their separate ways and never speaking again.

Then on Saturday, 19-year-old Cry posted an old photo on Twitter saying: “I met this girl on a dinner cruise in Hawaii in 2006. We were basically best friends for that night so I need y’all to help me find my best friend cause I miss her and I need to see how she’s doing now. Please retweet this so we can be reunited.”

And the people of Twitter did not disappoint.  

Despite the friends living on opposite sides of the USA – Cry is studying on the east coast at Hampton University in Mississippi and Tran is at Riverside City College in California – within a day they had tracked each other down.

The 18-year-old replied to Cry’s tweet saying: “Heard you were looking for me”.

She also shared a selfie with a family photograph from the same dinner cruise.  

And the people of Twitter were so pleased with their investigative skills they wanted to know if the friends were talking or planning on meeting up.

Cry shared a screenshot of a private message, confirming that the pair were messaging but said for the time being they couldn’t afford to travel to see each other and would be Facetiming instead. 

And other people were quick to share their own stories of holiday friendships including one that lead to years of being pen pals. 

And other people were asking for help in tracking down old friends too. 

We love a happy ending.