US owner traced after diving camera drifts to Taiwan

TAIWAN: A Taiwanese airline said Monday it has traced the American owner of a diving camera, which was lost in Hawaii in 2007 and was found last month on a Taiwan beach more than 6,000 miles (9,600 km) away.

Flag carrier China Airlines said the owner of the Canon camera, identified as Lindsay Crumbley Scallan from Georgia, would be offered a free round-trip ticket to Taiwan to collect it.

The memory card with photos of Scallan's Hawaii visit remained intact inside the barnacle-encrusted camera.

"Ms Scallan is welcome to visit Taiwan so that she can take home the invaluable memories of her trip to Hawaii," said Lee Wen-yi, an official of the airline.

Scallan lost the waterproof camera in August 2007 during a diving trip in Maui. It was found by Douglas Cheng, a China Airlines manager, while he was strolling along a beach at Taitung on Taiwan's east coast on February 13.

The memory card allowed Cheng to identify where the camera had been lost.

China Airlines' staff in Honolulu launched a search for the owner, attracting media attention.

The airline said a friend of Scallan's in Hawaii informed her Monday that the camera had been found on the other side of the Pacific.

AFP