Long-lost scrapbook found at thrift shop returned to family

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) - An Alaska family was reunited with a lost scrapbook after a woman bought it from a thrift store last year.

Christine Otutoa said she has been trying to find the rightful owners for the past year after discovering her $4 purchase from Bishop’s Attic contained priceless memories, including wedding photos from the 1960s.

“There’s even an article from the Anchorage Daily Times in here from 1973,” Otutoa said. “I don’t know if it was accidentally thrown away, but I’d rather return it and have somebody share these memories, get them back.

“You never know. It might mean a lot to them.”

Struggling to find who it belonged to, Otutoa reached out asking for help.

Using one of the names listed on a photo caption in the scrapbook, KTUU connected Otutoa to Eagle River resident Allen Latuska, to whom the book belonged.

“It’s nice. It just brings back a lot of memories,” Latuska said. “Some of these I haven’t seen.”

Latuska said he has not seen the scrapbook in around 10 years. The last time he remembers seeing it was in his mother’s storage unit, which he said was broken into and had most of its items stolen.

“They could have thrown it away if they would have taken it, but they apparently decided to save it,” Latuska said. “That’s good.”

As Latuska flipped through the pages of the scrapbook that contained photos of his youth, he became more emotional. Some of the photos, he said, were photos of people who have passed away.

“They are priceless, and I’d gladly pay her back the $4,” Latuska said. “I go to that same thrift store with my wife sometimes, and I can only imagine if she would have picked it up and opened it and saw me, or if I would have seen it, it would have been shocking.”

On Thursday afternoon, Otutoa was able to connect with Latuska over Facebook Messenger, where her dream of seeing that scrapbook return to its owner finally happened.

“I figured, you know, it’s somebody’s memories, and you know, you can never get those pictures back, and I really wanted to make sure it gets back to the right owner,” Otutoa said.

“I’m very surprised, and I appreciate you getting this for me," Latuska said to Otutoa. “Thank you.”

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