After 9 years, mom reunited with stolen family photos — thanks to Facebook

Nine years ago, a film canister was stolen from Ann Perry-Smith's vehicle. The family photos, including those of her baby daughter, Charlotte, were thought to be gone forever.

This week, Perry-Smith, who lives on Vancouver Island, was reunited with the photos — thanks to a stranger and Facebook.

Helen Maslyk, who was experiencing tire problems on the way to a camping trip, spotted the roll of undeveloped film on the roadside near Victoria, British Columbia, during the May long weekend, CBC News reported.

She knew exactly what to do with the roll: she had the photos developed, then posted them to Facebook in an attempt to find their original owner.

"I'm the type of person (who thinks) everything happens for a reason so it didn’t even strike me as funny or strange to take it and want to go get it developed, find out what was on it and see if I could return it to the owner," Maslyk told TODAY Moms.

"Do you know who this is ???" she wrote on Facebook.

It worked.

A friend of Perry-Smith recognized the people in the photos, tagged Perry-Smith, and then alerted her to check Facebook immediately.

"I did as she requested and was completely and utterly shocked to see photos of my baby Charlotte," Perry-Smith told TODAY Moms in an e-mail.

Charlotte, who is almost 9, was "pretty excited and thrilled" to see her baby photos.

"It happened within 24 hours," Maslyk said. "I didn’t think it would happen as fast as it did."

"My jaw just dropped. There's a picture of my husband, my baby — who's only just weeks old at the time — and my dog, laying on the bed together. And it immediately brought back all those memories and I couldn't believe that somebody had found it after all these years," Perry-Smith told CBC News.

"I am so grateful to Helen for not only finding the film canister but going to the trouble of getting the film developed and then locating me through Facebook. Truly the kindness of strangers can be astounding," Perry-Smith said.

To make the story even sweeter, the random act of kindness led to a friendship between Maslyk and Perry-Smith.