Seven years ago, the Stephens family left North Carolina to vacation in Florida — and while they were there, one of them accidentally dropped their camera while paddle boating on Crystal River.
Fast-forward to present day: Dustin Molina, a boat captain for Plantation Adventure Center and Manatee Tours, was hosting an excursion across Kings Bay when he spotted something on the bank. “I’m watching this manatee eat, and that pretty much leads me to a camera just sitting there in the sands,” he says. The camera was broken, but the memory card was intact — and it contained hundreds of photos dating back to 2012, Molina says.
So Molina posted the pics on Facebook, and before long he heard from Lori Stephens, who was thrilled to get her family’s precious photos back. She says she’s planning another trip to Florida soon so she and her family can thank Molina in person. “We come to Florida all the time and enjoy all that Florida has to offer,” Stephens says.
Have you ever lost something that took years to find?