May 11, 2012
The story of a lost camera and a determined Canadian!
Do you remember Jessie & Gary from Tres Amigos RV Park on Stone Island? On one of their many beach walks Jessie spotted a camera floating near the beach. I remember them spending hours first drying out the camera, downloading the images and then many trips into Mazatlan to try and find the owner.
Let me have them tell you the rest of the story themselves:
Hi Colin and Contessa.
Gee are we excited or what!!!
After Jessie spotted the digital camera floating in the water on the Isla de la Piedra shoreline, I dried it and removed the memory card. We were able to look at the pictures. 434 photos in all taken by what looked like a young couple on their honeymoon.
While in Mazatlan,we identified the ‘all inclusive’ hotel they were staying at and visited it on two occasions, seeking information about the people in the photos. We asked around to no avail and subsequently, brought the memory card home.
Thinking about it, I contacted the editor of the Mazatlan Messenger Jack Sieber, to see if they could run a story or help us in some way. Jack is also a member of the ‘Blue Church’ in Centro who put us in touch with Patricia from the same congregation. Tish was eager to help us find the rightful owners so I sent her pictures of the people and the room they were staying in, but no luck.
After musing over the pictures once again, looking for that elusive clue, I zoomed in on the blue bracelets given to ‘all inclusive’ guests. Most pictures just showed the punched holes but I found two that were turned in such a way that I was able to read the serial numbers. (One on her and one on him). Tish took the numbers to the hotel and viola… she came away with a telephone number and email address.
Excitement vanished when she emailed only to have it bounce. She phoned with no answer. Persisting, she finally got through and eventually connected with Yeraldin the young woman in the photos.
Yeraldin got a new email address for us to communicate with her. She is somewhat thrilled, no,,, ecstatic. They are from Chihuahua City, Chihuahua. It was her first visit to the ocean beach and she thought her pictures were gone forever. Here are a couple of emails from her.
hola, Mr Gary yo soy la persona dueña de la kamara que encontro en mazatlan, hable con Patricia y me dio su email, para comunicarnos y ver si me podia mandar las fotos.
hi, i hope you speak Espanish, i dont speak english very well im from mexico i visit mazatlan in DECEMBER and i lost mi camara, patricia call me and she say you have this pictures so i hope you can send me the pictures for email. and i hope you understeand mi ugly english.
thanks.
Followed by,
Bueno pues muchas gracias, son unas buenas personas,tomarse la molestia de localizarme……. me da gusto recuperarlas porque fue la primera vez que iba a una playa …… en ese viaje conocimos el mar asi que son un buen recuerdoo muchass graciass
As you can see we are very pleased to bring this to a happy conclusion. We have Yeraldin and Oscar’s home address and plan to send the memory card to them. I have uploaded the pictures to Windows Skydrive and sent her the link. (I will send you the link separately).
Sounds like you are having fun planning the new home.
Cheers, G
Photo of the camera owners, Yeraldin & Oscar!
Here is Yeraldin’s lastest email to Gary……
Hi i cant waith for see my pictures and thanks again i hope the memory card dont lose in the tripp again thank you im so happy this is something inusual please you can keep it all the pictures in you computer just for security bye
Isn’t that a great story. Gary you did a wonderful job following through right to the end. That couple will never forget you and your good deed. Now you have to come back to Mexico to meet them!
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I love stories like this and commend you for your persistence. It pays off in happy endings for sure!
How sweet!
I love happy endings and this was one of the best.
Great story and thank,s to Gary&Jessie for their detective work, well done for a very happy couple!! I knew you’d pick the red my choice too!! Good luck!!
What a great story!
What a great happy ending!
What a great story with a happy ending.
Hello Contessa,
Loved this story! Hope you and the family are finding yourselves well!