Last June, Saya Tomioka and her boyfriend Griffin Madden had walked out into Times Square after seeing The Book of Mormon on Broadway. When the couple kissed each other, a stranger with a camera stopped to capture the moment.
After showing the photo to the couple, the unknown photographer disappeared into the crowd of Times Square without giving either Tomioka or Madden any details.
At the time, it was simply flattering that someone they didn't know wanted to document their moment.
No one could have known at the time just how important that photo would turn out to be. But on December 2, Madden tragically became one of the 36 victims of the Oakland warehouse fire in California.
It took five days to positively identify his remains, but that didn't bring the closure that Tomioka had hoped for.
She spent several days after the fire reflecting on her and Madden's good times together. And then she remembered the picture that the stranger took of them last year in Times Square.
She took to Facebook to plead to friends and family to help her on the search for the mysteriously taken photo.
Around 423 shares later, her question was miraculously answered by the formerly nameless photographer responsible for the image.
Other than receiving national attention, finding the photo has also helped Tomioka during her time of grief and heartache.
Tomioka wrote on Facebook: "I've finally found you. I sobbed when I saw this photo in Thom's arms, and then, I immediately laughed uncontrollably. Life is so strange. I've lost you, but I've never felt stronger in my life. Through our many years of love and growth, I learned how to be strong from you."
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