Family wants photos back after accidental donation

FISHERS (WISH) - A gesture of goodwill has taken a heartbreaking turn. A mistake has a family searching for lost memories that you might have purchased.

Jackie and Gregory Henderson moved the family to Fishers some eight years ago. You know how it is, said Jackie: "We had boxes that we hadn't even unpacked from where we moved. And basically, that's what they were in, in a box that hadn't been unpacked."

That box got moved with several others out of the basement storage area, and those boxes accidentally were taken to the Goodwill Store at 116th Street and Olio Road.

Normally, that wouldn't be a big deal, but, Jackie said, "my husband passed away, and in those pictures was all the collages of my family."

After 40 years of marriage and a four-year fight against an illness, Gregory Henderson died of cancer in March.

Jackie has plenty of other pictures. But the ones that accidentally ended up at the Goodwill are special. And less than 24 hours after they were dropped off, she went back and searched.

"We looked around on the floor, and we did find some things I knew were mine. They let me go ahead and take that stuff back," she said.

Goodwill searched too, even sending an email to stores in the district to be on the lookout. But so far, no luck. Jackie thinks someone may have bought them.

And she makes this plea: "I just want my pictures back because that's my life with my husband and our parents and our kids growing up."

The frames include two big ones, one oak and one maple, two smaller ones, one brown, one black, and a long one that's black. It's the pictures she wants, not the frames.

A spokeswoman at Goodwill said she understands the heartbreak. But she said finding the pictures is a long shot at best. In many cases, she said, the pictures are thrown away before the frames are displayed in the store.

And in that there's a lesson for us all. Before you donate, check pockets, purses, briefcases and boxes. Take personal photos out of the frames. If you can help Jackie, please email Anchor David Barras at dbarras@wishtv.com .