Stranger’s Snapshots Found on Used Camera—Mystery, Memories, and Maybe Mild Stalking

Have you ever been to a yard sale or an estate sale, and ended up buying something you weren't sure you were supposed to?

I know I've been to my fair share of rummage sales, but most of the time if someone is trying to sell a picture frame, for example, they'll remove their photo from it first.  But sometimes, these sales happen because of big changes occurring in someone's life.  It could be a move, or a death in the family, or maybe a cleanout of the past.

And you can get pretty overwhelmed quickly, if, for example, you're attempting to shift forty years of stuff from Mom's house so she can move into assisted living.  Some things can slip through the cracks.   I personally think that's what happened here.

So What Are You Talking About?

A woman on TikTok bought a digital camera online a few years ago.  And on the camera, she found a bunch of old pictures.

If you can't watch the video or it's not loading, here's what she said:

"Hi! I bought a digital camera off of Ebay a couple years ago, and when I got it, it came with all these photos of this woman and her beautiful family and friends (I named her Susan, but I have no idea what her actual name is). I have been holding onto a lot of them for a few years now - these are someone's memories. I don't know if "Susan" is still around, but as someone who has recently lost my Grandma, I would hate if pictures of her and her loved ones were lost."

Now the question is, how to find her!

Are There Any Clues?

Well, yes. They think she might be from Alabama or has a strong connection to the state, because one commenter noted one of the pictures had a Crimson Tide shirt, and there was a Beef O Brady's restaurant in another, which has locations in Alabama.

And the dates were intact on some of the photos - that went back as far as 2015. There were kids in some of the pictures, so she's banking on some of them being young adults or married now. Some people suggested contacting the seller, others suggested looking for license plates in other photos. One commenter noted one of the pictures was taken in Europe, and another tried to zoom in on KEY CHAINS to try to see if they could find a local logo.

Now What?

Honestly, I think it would be nice to find "Susan" or her family, but... to me, the good has already been done.  If you read the comments, there are so many loving stories about Grandmas and family and lost photos.  This post and these photos have really opened up a discussion about family.  People are sharing stories and memories, and... it's  great. And I'm sure I've seen on a few local Facebook groups that people were also trying to do this on a smaller level.

I'm sure it was one of those things that just slipped through the cracks.  After a funeral, or after a move, it's hard to get every little detail perfect.  To me, getting a little something of that memory card back would be incredible.  Why?  Because this person didn't even realize these photos were gone.  They might not have known they were there at all.  That could be filling in a few important memories!

Or, you know, they just forgot to delete the photos after they upgraded to a new one.

I'll choose the more romantic story.

Do you recognize anyone in the photos?  Have you ever lost photos like Susan's family did?  What happened?

Photographically yours,
Behka