MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. – A Madison Heights man trying to find the rightful owner of two photo albums he found in the trunk of a used car he now owns has returned the albums to their rightful owners.
Keith Scalf says he bought the 2001 Ford Taurus in 2008 from a mechanic, who told him he bought it at an auction.
Scalf said he never looked under the car's spare donut in the trunk until July 16th, when he had a flat tire. That's when he discovered hundreds of black and white photos that date all the way back to the early 1900s.
The Highman family from Brighton called Local 4 after seeing the pictures and said they were of their family.
Late last week, Ruth and Jim Highman traveled to Madison Heights and collected the albums which had been missing for more than 11 years.
Ruth Highman said that her son Bob had taken the car to Detroit to sell the car, but the buyer never showed up.
"He was just waiting and some neighbor told him that there is a lady there in the neighborhood that goes through everything. So, he wanted to hide (the albums) so he didn't lose them," said Highman.
Ruth and Jim said that most of the people in the photos have passed, but family members are happy to have the photos back in their possession.
"I can think of just off hand about 4 or 5 people in the picture that are still alive that would like to see them," said Jim Highman.
Several photographs were found in a used 2001 Taurus which was purchased at auction.