ABC News: Person of the Week: Christian Pilet

ABC News: Person of the Week: Christian Pilet

The Internet is so often a scary place, sometimes a magical place, but a very special place nonetheless. When I read this story, it warmed my heart and made me proud to be a part of this industry. It reminded me of what the Internet is all about... connecting people. And this particular connection was very powerful indeed.

In case you haven't heard already, a mysterious digital camera was found in the sand after the South Asia tsunami. Christian Pilet managed to extract the photos from the camera's memory. He was determined to find out who was in the photos. Below is a short excerpt from the piece, but you should definately read the story in its entirety.

Pilet took the pictures around to several embassies in Thailand; he thought the couple might be Swedish or German. Nobody was able to help.

He took the pictures home to Washington, and on the very first night he was home, his wife, Nicole, looked to see if the people in pictures matched any photos on the Internet. Many families had posted photographs of the missing.

"The very first image she clicked on, she said, 'This is the guy.' And I remember thinking when I was falling asleep from jet lag that there's no way you just turn on the Internet and, in just the first click or two, find the people," Pilet said.

But it was true. Nicole had discovered photos of John and Jackie Knill from Vancouver, British Colombia. Their three sons had been searching desperately and had posted their parents picture on the Internet.