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SALT LAKE CITY — KSL employees helped return lost pictures to the former owner after she had sold the camera six years ago. The good deed with the digital camera could be considered a coincidence or a miracle.
Orem native Emily Dennis Adams served an LDS mission in Toronto, Canada six years ago. After returning to Utah, her digital camera broke.
The old Olympus digital camera still had about 166 pictures on the camera, and several media cards as well.
"I busted the back screen," Adams said, "and I actually couldn't delete the pictures off the screen because I couldn't see what I was doing."
When he looked through the photos, he saw Emily holding a sign for a Canadian Curling Club. "It had a phone number, and I did a Google search on the phone number, and it came up Toronto," Wilkinson said.
So, she donated the camera to a thrift store, and didn't think about it again.
KSL broadcast designer Dave Wilkinson bought the camera a few weeks ago and discovered all the old pictures taken in Canada. When he looked through the photos, he saw Emily holding a sign for a Canadian Curling Club.
"It had a phone number, and I did a Google search on the phone number, and it came up Toronto," Wilkinson said. "And that's how we knew there was some sort of connection to Utah, was the BYU sweater. (I thought) there might be a chance she's from Utah."
Wilkinson decided to employ the help of a co-worker, KSL promotions producer Lesli Harker, to figure out who the pictures belonged to, and if that person wanted them back.
"I'm from that part of Canada, and I have a ton of Facebook friends who lived in Toronto, and so I posted a few of the pictures on Facebook," Harker said. "Within a week, we found her."
Related:
Provo man buys old cell phone, finds amazing list of numbers
A Provo man got a little more than he paid for when he visited a thrift store. He bought a used cell phone, plugged it in and found a blow-you-away list of phone numbers for famous athletes and entertainment stars.Harker then sent Facebook messages to Adams, saying that she and Wilkinson made a copy of all the photos for her.
Adams still keeps in touch with her former missionary companions, and was glad that the photos were found. Since her camera cards didn't hold much data, she said she copied the photos and sent them home, and then kept re-using the card.
Adams said she thinks most of the photos are still around, but Wilkinson did have a couple of shots that she doesn't remember seeing before.
"I just bought it this year," Wilkinson said, "so that's been where it has been for six years. Maybe it was just meant to happen."
