Treasure-finder returns lost photos to MacDill Reservist

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Adam C. Borgman
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Most people can relate with someone who lost something that was valuable. Maybe something that has a high monetary value or it could be something that is very sentimental.

John F. Conner Jr., treasure hunter, has been using his metal detector for years to assist members of the community recover sentimental belongings. Sometimes he is called from an add he placed online. He will go out to explore local abandoned areas on his own, in search of lost treasures.

Last month, Conner found an item that would intrigue his curiosity, a camera with a memory card that contained photos of a service member in uniform with her family.
"My mission after finding this camera and the photos on it was to locate the person in them and return it," said Conner.

About three years ago while on a trip to California to visit a sick family member, Alcivar, had a camera stolen from her with many family photos that she thought would be lost forever.

A camera was found in what appeared to be abandoned homeless camp In Tarpon Springs, according to Conner. His biggest concern was that the camera was stolen, along with the memories of this service member.

"There were a lot of photos on the memory card," said Conner. "The men and women in the military sacrifice so much every day, the least I could to was to try my hardest to get these memories back to her."

After tireless efforts of trying to use social media and search engines to locate the U.S. Air Force member with the last name Alcivar, and no luck, Conner decided to reach out to the closes military base, MacDill AFB. After about a week, the identity in the pictures was confirmed to be that of, Alcivar, a current MacDill Reservist.

"When I first got the call from the base that someone found my camera with my pictures on them I was so excited," said Alcivar. "All I could think was that I would finally get the photos of my family back I lost three years ago."

It was scheduled for the day after the Labor Day holiday weekend. All parties would meet at a grocery store parking lot to reunite Alcivar with her photos.

Unfortunately, the camera was not the camera that Alcivar was expecting.

"This was our family's camera my daughter lost a few short years ago and it did contain family photos that we were very excited to get them back," said Alcivar. "I was hoping for a different camera that was stolen from me three years ago that was very valuable and contained photos I would love to get back."

Even though Alcivar did not receive the camera and photos she was expecting she was very grateful to Conner for his dedication and drive to return everything to her, and thanked him for his service.

"I cannot thank you enough for all the hard work you put in to get my camera and photos back to me," said Alcivar. "Who would have thought I'd be holding that camera again and to have those photos back."