Coral Amayi was river tubing on Mount Animas, Colorado, when she lost her camera. A rapid threw her off the dinghy. Her Olympus even captured the event on video at the time, but sank in the water in the process. 13 years later, she can revisit the scene—and over 170 other photos. A fisherman recently pulled the old camera out of the river and found that the memory card has remained intact over the years. He found the owner using the pictures.
“I had pictures of my dog and her puppies, pictures of my girlfriend’s first baby, and pictures from my camping trip that I hadn’t downloaded yet,” Coral Amayi, who then lived in Durango, Colorado, told the Washington Post. . When she climbed back into her inflatable boat, she noticed that her camera was missing. “I thought I would never see her again,” said the 35-year-old. But Spencer Greiner, a local fisherman, discovered the device on a fishing trip in mid-March. The 34-year-old told the Washington Post that he was clearing garbage along the riverbank when he saw the weather-beaten camera sticking out of the mud.
He took the camera home in his fishing backpack, where he intended to throw it away. But then curiosity got the better of him. “I was surprised that my computer could read the map,” Greiner said. Because the old Olympus was just a wreck, rusted and covered with a crust of slime. Over a hundred photos taken in June and July 2010 came to light. “Some of the photos were a little blurry, but there were some good ones. I knew they must have been important to someone,” said the fisherman. The pictures showed, among other things, a wedding and said rafting tour in Colorado.
Spencer Greiner went in search of the owner. He uploaded some pictures to a Facebook group that functions as a garage sale for the Durango area. “I picked this group simply because they had the most members and would give me the biggest audience,” the fisherman told the New Zealand Herald. “Did you get married in the Durango area on June 12, 2010?” the 34-year-old asked in his post. “Did you have an ugly brown stretch suit at your bachelorette party? Do you recognize one of these people? If so, please contact me.” Obviously, the people in the pictures were easy to recognize, because just an hour later he received feedback, including from the groom.
While the camera didn’t belong to him or his wife, the couple tagged a number of their guests at the time under the post. When Coral Amayi, who now lives in the US state of Arizona, found out about it, she could hardly believe it. Spencer Greiner – surprised at how quickly the puzzle could be solved – sent the 35-year-old all the photos. The “ugly” stretch station wagon was from a limousine service. They rented the car for their friend’s bridal shower as a gag, Coral Amayi recalled when looking at the pictures.
They were particularly touched by the photos showing their now deceased dog Zona. She had already downloaded some of the pictures and deleted them from the camera, which she is happy about afterwards. “It’s probably a good thing Spencer didn’t see the bachelorette party photos,” she told the Washington Post. It was pretty wild back then. “I hope everyone who hears this story will be inspired to search for the owner of something they found,” said the 35-year-old. No matter how insignificant an item might seem at first glance, you never know , what special meaning could lie behind it.spender Greiner hopes to meet Coral Amayi personally one day – so that they can take a picture together.
Sources: “New Zealand Herald”, “Washington Post”
