The power of the internet reunites a man with photo found in World Trade Center debris
After 13 years of searching, all it took was a retweet from country singer Blake Shelton to finally reunite a man with a photo found in the rubble of the World Trade Center.
Every Sept. 11, Elizabeth Keefe attempted to track down the owner of a photo her friend found in the debris showing people at a wedding. This Sept. 11, as she has before, Keefe tweeted the picture out. Once it was retweeted by Shelton, it went viral and finally someone recognized a man in the snapshot: Fred Mahe. Mahe, who worked on the 77th floor of Tower 2 as a sales account director for Thomson Financial, was also the photo's owner.
"My happiness is not that I get the picture back," Mahe told Mashable. "What I'm so psyched about is that she accomplished her task. She is the one who persisted over 13 years every 9/11 saying, 'Who are these people?'"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mahe was exiting the subway when the first plane hit, and never made it into his office. He later moved to Denver, and was surprised this week to hear from a former co-worker who saw the tweet and recognized him. Before long, Mahe and Keefe connected.
"I felt it was such a powerful photo, and it spoke to me," Keefe told Mashable. "A wedding photo is not just an average photo. And connected to 9/11, whatever the story was, it gave me a sense of purpose to get it back to its owner."
Mahe told Keefe that the photo was taken at Christian and Christine Loredo's wedding on March 31, 2001, in Aspen. "It's pretty magic considering the tragedy of 9/11 that, knock on wood, everybody is alive and well," Christian Loredo told Mashable. Having never seen the photo before, he thought at first it was "some sort of hoax," but after talking to Mahe, Loredo realized "it's really a silver lining."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
This winter head the call of these 7 spots for prime whale watching
The Week Recommends Make a splash in Maui, Mexico and Sri Lanka
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Major League Baseball's shaky future in Tampa
The Explainer New questions arise about a troubled franchise after Hurricane Milton wrecked the Trop
By David Faris Published
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box office
Speed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published