News 9 Story Links Picture, Lost In Tornado, To Family

May's tornados scattered people's lives all across the metro. In fact, we have heard of pictures being found as far away as Missouri. But Wednesday night, News 9 got to reunite one woman with a very special picture.

Wednesday, June 5th 2013, 6:31 pm

By: News 9


May's tornados scattered people's lives all across the metro. In fact, we have heard of pictures being found as far away as Missouri. But Wednesday night, News 9 was able to reunite one woman with a very special picture. One she and her family saw broadcast on News 9 Tuesday night at 5 p.m.

Tuesday night, News 9 did two stories: one on an Oklahoma City police officer and his wife who lost their home in the tornado; the second on a woman, Malorie Gulikers, who found pictures and other precious memories in all the rubble.

6/4/2013 Related Story: OKC police Officer Helps Others, Despite Losing Home In Tornado

6/4/2013 Related Story: Woman Rides Out Moore Tornado In Freezer, Helps Reunite Victims With Belongings

Shortly after the story aired, we received a phone call. It turned out, one of the pictures Gulikers found belonged to the officer's wife.

Amanda Koelsch couldn't wait to see the picture for herself. She had only seen a brief glimpse of it on TV. Now she was at the house of the woman who had found it buried in debris, nearly two miles away from where her home used to stand.

It was buried beneath some rubble near 7th Street and Telephone Road, miles away from where Koelsch and her husband lived at S.W. 148th Street and Harvey. There was nothing left of their home after the storm hit, and that's what makes this picture so special

Complete Coverage: May 2013 Tornado Outbreak

"I am excited to have recovered it," said Koelsch. "I didn't even know I was missing it. This is one of my college graduations, when I got my police science degree."

"I just think it's special to be able to have those memories," said Gulikers. "That's something you can't repeat."

"This is probably my only copy of it," Koelsch added. "I had it on a disk, but I don't have the disk anymore so, this is what I have."

Both women are still surprised how far the tornado took it.

"It traveled a lot further than I thought it would," said Koelsch. "So now I am wondering if there are other ones out there."

In this case, a picture really is worth a thousand words. Now these two young moms have a very special story to tell their friends and family, and a very special bond that will hopefully last a lifetime.

Gulikers still has a scrapbook, a jewelry box and several other photos she recovered. If you know who those things belong to, contact us at News9.com.

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