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24-year-old photos found in antique camera returned to family

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March 19 (UPI) -- A Toronto man who bought an antique camera from Pennsylvania off eBay discovered there was still film inside -- and he was able to reunite the photos with the family that took them in 1997.

Adam Wilson said he bought a camera from eBay and discovered there were photos on the film inside, but the Lewisberry, Pa., seller could only tell him it was found in a storage locker in Lewisberry.

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Wilson posted the recovered photos to Twitter, estimating they were 10-20 years old.

A TV news report about Wilson's discovery aired on WHTM-TV, and a viewer recognized Maria Bartoletti, a former Lewisberry resident who now lives in Florida.

"My sister called me, and she said, 'Bob, you're not gonna believe this,'" Maria's brother, Bob Bartoletti, told the TV station.

Bob Bartoletti said the photos were taken at Christmas in 1997. He said one of the pictures recovered by Wilson is the only photo he has together with Maria and James Bartoletti, the siblings' father, who died not long after.

The photos also feature Maria's husband, Marv Bulson, who died in 1999.

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Bartoletti said the Christmas depicted in the photos was the family's first since the death of his mother and mother-in-law.

"It was a very meaningful time for us, and it was a very difficult year because both mothers were very ill for six to seven months of that year," Bartoletti said.

Wilson said he was happy to return the memories to the family.

"I just knew that if we could get them out there and get them back home they would be appreciated," Wilson said.

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