Every Year On 9/11 She Shared This Photo Searching For Its Owner. This Year She Did!
Thanks to the almost god-like powers of the Internet, Lesley University assistant professor Elizabeth Stringer Keefe's 13 year-long search has finally ended on a good note.
By Sadho Ram — 13 Sep 2014, 02:01 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
Call it fate, call it luck - OR - you could even call it the power of the Internet, but 13 years after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, a woman has finally located the owner of a wedding photo that was discovered near the rubble at Ground Zero
Every year on #911 I post this photo hoping 2 return 2 owner. Found at #groundzero #WTC in 2001. Pls RT pic.twitter.com/mZ9LdQqE7x
— E. Stringer Keefe (@ProfKeefe) September 12, 2014
After thousands of people on Twitter and Facebook helped spread the word that Lesley University assistant professor Elizabeth Stringer Keefe was trying to find the owner of a picture that was located not far from Ground Zero, which was given to her by a friend from New York in 2001, Keefe said she spoke with a person that’s in the image.
bostonmagazine.com
Each year since the attacks, the Lesley University professor who possessed the crumpled up photo has spent the last 13 years trying to find the photo's owner by posting to her social media accounts, hoping that someone would come forward to claim it
Though Keefe and several of her dedicated friends have posted the image to various social media accounts on Sept. 11 each year since the attacks, she told Mashable, the story has never managed to cut through the clutter. In 2011, she posted the image on the 11th of each month to mark the tragedy's tenth anniversary. But this year, when she shared the image on Twitter, Keefe saw a greater response than ever before; she credited Boston blog Universal Hub with generating interest.
mashable.com
On Friday, Elizabeth tweeted that she has finally heard from one of the people in the photo, and that all were alive and well
Attention wonderful world: ALL SIX PEOPLE ARE ALIVE AND WELL AND I HAVE JUST SPOKEN TO ONE OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!! #Happyending #911photo
— E. Stringer Keefe (@ProfKeefe) September 12, 2014
The photo came into Elizabeth's possession during the month of October 2001 when she was visiting a friend in New York
A friend living in New York City during the attacks uncovered the photo in the days following the terrorist attacks, but was planning to move permanently to California. She passed the photo onto Keefe with the request that she do something meaningful with it.
mashable.com
Whether it belonged to a victim, or was accidentally dropped in passing in the days following the devastation in New York City, it means something to someone. “It’s a beautiful photo. There is a lot of happiness in it. There are tons of possibilities. And I think the thing that kept me committed to getting it back is that it was found regardless of what the story is,” said Keefe. “Whatever it is, it deserves to get back to where it came from.”
bostonmagazine.com
The person who got in touch with Elizabeth is Fred Mahe, a former New York City resident who now lives in Colorado with his wife
Dear Everyone: introducing the very much alive & well @FredWMahe!! #FARLEFT #weallknowyou #911photo #AMAZING #NYC Thank you to ALL
— E. Stringer Keefe (@ProfKeefe) September 13, 2014
@TakinADigg It is my picture that was at my desk on the 77th Fl of WTC Tower 2. The picture has been kept safe by @ProfKeefe for last 13yrs
— Fred Mahe (@FredWMahe) September 13, 2014
Thanks @blakeshelton 4 retweeting the 9/11 people pic. We r all alive. The REAL STORY is @ProfKeefe, she is 100% 9/12 @MlynnrabbMonica #9/12
— Fred Mahe (@FredWMahe) September 13, 2014
