After 13 years, woman finds owner of wedding photo buried at WTC site

The owner of a wedding photo lost during the Sept. 11 attacks was identified thanks to a Boston woman who has been posting the image online for years.

Elizabeth Stringer Keefe held on to the wedding photo after a friend found it buried in the rubble at the World Trade Center site.

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 more than 73,000 re-tweets on Twitter, Keefe’s 13-year search finally came to an end when Fred Mahe, the owner of the photo, responded to her tweet on Friday.

Mahe’s initial response got lost in Keefe’s Twitter feed and the two only connected after he sent her a message on the networking site LinkedIn, Keefe said in a phone interview with PBS NewsHour Weekend.

The photo had been pinned on Mahe’s cubicle wall on the 77th floor of the second World Trade Center tower, according to ABC News.

Bears Retweeting #911photo pic.twitter.com/vsIpKCJ1oR

— E. Stringer Keefe (@ProfKeefe) September 13, 2014

Keefe has posted the image on different blog sites for years, but “it never caught on” until now, she said.

The two are set to meet this week in New York, where Keefe will return the photo to Mahe, Keefe said.

“It was extremely overwhelming,” she said. “It’s emotional, it’s joyful, it’s happy.”