After persistently sharing a wedding photo found at Ground Zero 13 years ago on social media, a Massachusetts woman has found its owners.
Not only that, but Elizabeth Stringer Keefe also discovered, with the help of Twitter, that all six people in the photo, including the bride and groom, are alive and well, just a few hours after asking her followers to be hopeful.
Every year on Sept. 11, Keefe would tweet a scanned copy of the scratched and wrinkled photo, which a friend living in New York City uncovered in the days following the attacks on the World Trade Center. The friend gave the photo to Keefe in October 2001 with the request that she do something meaningful with it.
On Thursday, the photo was retweeted more than 27,000 times.
#TY 2 everyone who has RT or shared the #911 photo. It's never caught on anywhere else where posted! #WTC #NYC pic.twitter.com/rnfW3pCKMh— E. Stringer Keefe (@ProfKeefe) September 12, 2014
By Friday, she received a tweet from one of the people, Fred Mahe, wearing a bow tie and tux in the weathered picture. The Colorado man credited country singer Blake Shelton for the connect.
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
Stringer went on to introduce Mahe to her followers, who had been so involved in the hunt for the photo's owners.
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
For Mahe, Stringer's dogged pursuit represents "9/12," which he describes as the day he saw "the best of humanity."
@ProfKeefe 9/11 we remember what we lost. 9/12 we remember what we have. 9/12/01, I saw the best of humanity. Elizabeth is 100% 9/12 #9/12— Fred Mahe (@FredWMahe) September 13, 2014