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YouTube: The New Lost And Found

Lip-syncing, crazy weathermen, and dancing babies are just some of the types of things we expect to see on YouTube.  But what about using the site as away to post a Missing or Found ad, like one you might see on a street pole.  Well, two Canadians used the video site to do just that.  Josh Rimer and Craig Weckerle are two Vancouver residents, who were walking around city the night of the Olympics Opening Ceremony.  As they were walking they came upon a red case with a Sony HD camcorder inside, just laying on the sidewalk. 

So, they decided to create and post a video to YouTube, in hopes to find the owners.  And indeed, with more than 10,000 views it worked. 

Bill Manuel, a resident of Bainbridge Island, a town across the water from downtown Seattle, was watching the local news last week, when local station KING-TV aired a story about Rimer & Weckerle’s quest to find the owner of the camera.  He instantly recognized the camera, and some of the footage that the two Canadians had put into their video. 

The next day, Manuel called the KING-TV, and alerted them that he was the owner of the camera.  He told that station that after searching the Lost and Found department in Vancouver, he thought he’d never see it again.  KING-TV reporter Mimi Jung invited Manuel to the station to meet Rimer and Weckerle via Skype.

Manuel said in their conversation that, it wasn’t necessarily the camera he wanted, but the video that was captured with the camera.

“The video that doesn’t look at all significant was actually pretty significant to me and my family because it’s the last video of my father who was in there, who had passed away at the beginning of February,” said Manuel.

Manuel was so gracious for the Canadians find that he told them they could keep the camera as long as he could download the footage in the camera.

“People say good karma will come back to you and it really did and it worked great for everyone,” said Rimer.