Lost and Found: Our Favorite Lost-GoPro Stories

A few weeks ago, GoPro caught wind of a Facebook post by Corey Tyler. After reeling in a GoPro while fishing, he uploaded the footage to Facebook and was able to reunite the camera with its original owner. This story got us thinking; over the years, there has been a recurring theme of great lost, and found, GoPro stories. After Corey’s successful find, we thought we’d share our favorite lost GoPro stories.
 

Like a Pig in Mud

Our first story is quite the topsy-turvy tale. In 2013, a GoPro was accidently dropped out of a skydiving plane, just as the passengers were preparing to jump. Tumbling end over end through the sky, the camera landed rather surprisingly, in a pig pen. For 8 months, the camera sat with the pigs in mud, until the farm’s owner found the camera and uploaded the footage to YouTube. With 22 million views, this is certifiably a viral lost-and-found story.

Determined to Get the Shot

Our next story is unique as skier Axel Peterson found his very own camera three years after losing it. Dropping a cliff near Yellowstone National Park in the winter of 2013, Peterson’s camera came off as he stomped his landing. To make matters worse, he was teased with a second angle that his friend had shot— but was missing the classic POV captured on his GoPro. Ever determined, however, he returned three years later and found his camera. Finally joined together, the footage speaks for itself.

The Hand Off – A GoPro Story

The Hand Off isn’t technically a lost GoPro story, but we love how the creators used the idea for inspiration. Unlike most people who would head directly to Lost and Found, this crew first shot some clips and threw together and edit of the GoPro’s adventure before dropping it off.

Grand Canyon from the Stratosphere

This story takes lost and found GoPros to new heights. In 2013, a group of Stanford students attached a GoPro to a weather balloon and launched it from the Grand Canyon. Rigged up with a HERO3, a cell phone, and a GPS tracker, the balloon’s phone was supposed to send a text to the team with the camera’s location after it returned to the ground. There was only one problem— it never did. The team considered the camera and its precious images long gone, until they got a call two years later. Their balloon setup was found in the Grand Canyon by a hiker— that worked for the phone company. Reunited with their camera, the team downloaded the images and were amazed at what they found.

Lost GoPro Wants to Go Home

Our next story comes from Breckenridge Ski Resort, where a GoPro has just woken up after the spring thaw. In a creative video made by the resort itself, watch as the GoPro wanders down the mountain, explores the village, grabs a beer, and looks for its owners in this sweet and sad tale. Give it a watch and see if you know the owners.

The Family Cam

The last story to mention will leave your heart warmed. On a Minnesota summer day, Kyle Puelston was cliff jumping with his family when his head strap-mounted GoPro slipped off upon impacting the water. After a 30-minute search, Puelston knew the camera was gone.

A year later, Chris Flores and his brother were snorkeling in the same area where Puelston lost his camera. They found a variety of items in their excursion, including Kyle’s GoPro. At first Chris was stoked— he now had a camera to shoot his adventures. But when he started looking through the files on the memory card, he discovered Puelston’s family memories. Chris knew all-too-well the importance of these memories— a year earlier, he nearly lost his 4-month old daughter to a heart attack. Flores felt the camera had to be returned to its original owner.

Searching through the footage revealed earlier video of a police training exercise. In one of the shots, he was able to make out a “Chisago County S.W.A.T.” patch on the arm of an officer—which allowed him to track down Puelston and eventually return the memories. As a token of thanks, Puelston let Flores keep the camera to create even more memories of his own daughter. Their story is a touching one.

Do you know who this is?

We can’t imagine all the other incredible stories waiting to be found. In an ideal world, every lost camera would find its owner, including the one we just found. Normally, GoPro doesn’t manage reuniting lost cameras with owners—the GoPro community has done a great job of that via social media. Last weekend, however, one of GoPro’s own employees found a HERO4 Silver near Torrey Pines Gliderport in San Diego, California. We took a look on the SD card, and found some great content. Do you recognize the people in these photos? Help us find the owners and contact us if you know who they are!