Camera Mystery 'Develops' Into Shoreline Puzzle of the Past

A type of photographic mystery has both literally and figuratively developed here on the shoreline.

The pictorial puzzle first began to take shape a few weeks ago when Elaine Norwood found a small silver camera in the back of the drawer of the table that sits in the foyer of her Victoria Beach home.

"I don't use that drawer too often," Elaine told East Have Patch. "I don't know how it got there or how long it had been there."

Who's Camera Is It?

One thing the longtime East Haven resident knew right away, however, was that the camera was not one of those she had owned over the years.

And so, Elaine began to check around to see if perhaps it belonged to a family member, friend or neighbor of hers in Victoria Village who had mistakenly left the camera behind.

But one by one, they all responded that the camera was not theirs.

"It's the strangest thing," she said.

Old Film Camera — With Film

With no apparent owner and no clear answers as to how it came to be in the drawer, the mystery surrounding the camera is heightened by the device itself: a more than decade old film camera — with a used roll of film still inside it!

And so, Elaine did what any sleuth on the trail of a good mystery would do, she got the film developed.

Developing Developments

But that was not an easy task. Because most people have migrated away from film to digital cameras, few outlets remain to process film images.

Elaine said she first went to the Walgreens on Hemingway Avenue in East Haven, but store staff said they were unable to develop the film there and suggested she try the Branford location.

Branford staff members said they could get the film developed, but it would have to mailed out to an off site location.

'To Me It's A Puzzle'

Eventually, the roll of film was properly processed and returned to Elaine as a full packet of pictures, some of them even wide panoramic shots.

And as she carefully went through each image, it slowly began to dawn on her she had no idea who any of the people in the pictures were. Not one person. Not one place.

So, once again, Elaine turned to family, friends and neighbors to see if they recognized anyone in the pictures from the mystery camera? And again, no luck.
"To me it's a puzzle," she said. "Because nothing and no one looks familiar to me at all."

Hoping for Camera Hunting Help

She and others have also shared some of the pictures on Facebook, but the mystery of who owns the camera, how it got into her home and who is pictured in the photos, remains.

Some have offered up the theory that a someone doing work on her home may have left the camera behind. While others have suggested maybe the camera had always been in the back of the foyer drawer — which was purchased by Elaine more than a decade ago from The Country Story in North Branford — and she just never saw it until now.

But until the mystery of who owns the camera is solved, no one will ever know for sure.

And so, Elaine says she is sharing her story with Patch readers in hopes that someone, somewhere will recognize the people and/or places in the pictures — helping her to solve the mystery and return the camera and its contents to its rightful owner.