Social media appeal leads to return of camera, wedding photos

A dream came true for Brooklyn Kroeker weeks ago when she got married in Cuba.

However, when she and her family returned, a nightmare struck as her aunt, B.C. resident Tanya Munro, had her camera gear stolen from her car after stopping to see a friend at a McDonald’s along 17th Avenue S.E. in Calgary.

On those cameras were the only photos taken at the wedding, due in part to a bad Cuban wedding photographer.

Kroeker said they quickly put out an appeal for the return of the pictures, with a strong push on social media.

“We got hundreds and hundreds of shares. … Someone saw the post and knew of a person (who may have had information on the gear),” said an emotional Kroeker, who lives in Edmonton.

“The person was able to be contacted and they ended up returning most of the cameras — all but one lens — and the SD cards containing all of our trip and wedding photos on it.”

A laptop, an iPad, two camera bodies, five lenses, three handbags and personal documents were taken. Of that, Kroeker said they were unable to get the handbags, laptop and iPad back, but everything else was returned.

Kroeker said police are investigating and believe they have solid leads on the person’s involvement.

In all, she is just thankful to have the photos back.

“It’s indescribable — it’s very overwhelming,” she said.

“Police are very involved right now with a lot of people, doing an investigation and followups. They’ve been a huge help to us as well.”