***UPDATE*** August 6th, 2014 ***Owner of missing photos found!***
Two days ago I was viewing the photos from the memory card I found and I had the thought, “how am I ever going to return these photos to their rightful owners?” It really felt impossible. I remember when I found the card. I was at Lincoln Park in West Seattle doing a photo shoot. I found the card on the ground of the trail we were taking photos on, picked it up and slipped it into my camera pouch where I store all my memory cards. I thought it was strange to see a memory card on the ground, but thought to myself, I’d rather the photos be in my possession than forever lost on this trail, kicked underneath dust, and perhaps I can even find the owners of the photos. Fast forward to two days ago when I was viewing the photos. I had this sick feeling in my stomach; there didn't seem to be any hope with returning these photos. The photos appeared to be taken over in Europe, and I was worried that they belonged to someone in Europe, someone I’d never be able to reach, someone so far away. I asked some photographers on Facebook what I should do, and they recommended a blog post.
It is thanks to all of you who shared my blog post about the missing photos that less than 24 hours later, I was able to find the girl they belong to! This blog post received over 41 thousand views. A rad friend of mine shared my blog post on Reddit where a girl saw it and recognized one of the girls in the photos as someone she went to high school with. This girl emailed me and sent me the Facebook to one of the girls in the missing photos. I contacted her am so excited to give the memory card back to her. On the funnier side, turns out she already had a copy of the photos, and says she must have dropped the memory card later while out walking.
I cannot thank everyone enough for your help. Even though she already had the photos, your Twitter retweets and Facebook shares helped make this possible, which gives hope for other people with lost photos who do not have copies of them. I am blown away by how many people responded to this post and I'm overwhelmed with happiness knowing the girl has her photos. Thank you again to everyone who helped, it just goes to show you the power of the Internet, and a group of nice people wanting to help out.
Thank you!
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August 4th, 2014
Hey friends! I have a favor that I would love your help with.
I found a memory card while hiking in the Seattle area. It breaks my heart to think that these people are missing their photos. I would LOVE to return this memory card to its rightful owner. The photos are beautiful and I'm sure hold many special memories.
Here's where I need your help! If you can pass this blog post around, perhaps someone will recognize the people in the photos below and we'll be able to get them their photos back.
I imagine they had their camera stolen and whoever stole it chucked their memory card on the ground. I've had my camera stolen and while it absolutely sucked, the part that was way worse was losing all the photos on my memory card. I'd love to get these photos back to their owners, so please help pass them along! Some of the photos appear to be taken in Bristol, England, and the rest could be from Switzerland, Italy or Greece. Definitely from a Europe trip.
If you recognize these people, please email me at hello@kimathomas.ca and get in touch with the owners too!
Thank you! <3