Man finds camera from Nepal on mountain, returns it to earthquake survivor

SEATTLE -- A camera disappeared in the Cascades and with it, the images of a lifetime.

Descending Mt St Helens, Greg Lentsch spotted an object very out of place.

"There's just something glimmering, so I went over there and picked it up," he told KOMO-TV.

Lentsch and his girlfriend found a camera in its case. Their discovery launched a Facebook search for the mystery owner, someone who'd just photographed destruction in Nepal.

PHOTOS: Camera roll containing Nepal earthquake images

"What's their story, what were they doing in Nepal, why were they on St. Helens?" Lentsch wondered.

"I have carried that camera all over the world," said Kerry Shiels.

Shiels had survived the deadly quake in Nepal. The media covered her family reunion at Seattle's Sea-Tac airport.

A few weeks later, photos of a woman who resembled Shiels showed up online, and a reporter thought she looked familiar, and eventually connected Shiels and Lentsch.

"The pictures range from Argentina to Mt. St. Helens," Shiels said.

Shiels and Lentsch connected on video chat, where the complete strangers found they had a lot in common - from cooking, to where they grew up. Now, they may even go climbing together this summer.

It wasn't just a needle in a haystack, it was a camera in the Cascades, lost in a huge world that suddenly seems much smaller.