CRI听力: The Girl in the Photos

A decade-long mystery is solved…

Thanks to the power of the internet…and a former Bond Girl.

Wang Weiguo is an actor with the National Theatre Company of China.

Here's the miraculous story of the photos he found - and his quest to find their rightful owner.

Allie Johnson reports.

Wang Weiguo loves flea markets.

He pores through them, looking for treasures.

He's found precious vases, jade, old paintings.

But one winter day in 1999, he found something else – Wang:

"Suddenly, I saw an ancient Chinese photo frame. It was very unusual. The frame was held together without a single nail, and the wood was beautiful, so I decided to buy it. Then I realized something strange. The photo in the frame was of a little Western girl. I thought this was so fascinating! The frame was ancient Chinese, but inside was this sweet little Western child!"

The photo is black and white.

The girl is no more than ten years old, but wearing elegant makeup and a huge black feather boa.

Her chin is held high, like a Vogue fashion model, and her eyes are piercing.

"This little girl really had something remarkable about her. Her face and her eyes – they're so distinctive,"

The vendor asked if Wang wanted more picture frames.

Since he was moving into a new house, he bought all the frames she had.

"It wasn't until I got home and laid out the frames that I realized. Not only did all the frames have a photo inside – they were all the same person. From when she was a little child until she became an adult – they document an entire life."
 
There are photos of her with a man with a long white moustache, and with a girl who looks like her sister.

In some, she's a young woman with long blonde hair, laughing with her friends.

One shows her as a wide-eyed baby with her mother.

They're curled together on a swathe of white fur.

Her mother's hair is tousled and dirty blonde, and she's smiling at something off camera.

She's stunningly beautiful.

"I thought they must be lost by accident, because nobody would casually throw away the photos that recorded their lives. I thought the person who lost them must be very worried, but would have no idea where to find their photos. So I thought, I have a duty to find the owner and return every last one of these photos. If I don't, she'll regret it for life."

Wang called his friend, a police officer.

He asked if any foreigners had reported losing their photos.

The officer searched through every record in Beijing for the past year.

Nothing.

He showed them to every foreigner he knew in Beijing.

No one knew her.

Wang kept searching for clues.

A picture of the sister said "Ella" on the back.

Another had a Norwegian flag in it.

Wang asked a Norwegian theatre company to get their embassy involved.

But that was also a dead end.

Wang went to newspapers and TV stations in Beijing.

They told him the story was pointless.

Every time Wang moved homes…he took the photos with him.

Twelve years went by.

Then in December 2010, Wang turned to the internet.

CRI's English Service posted the photos online with a video about Wang's quest.

And asked the WORLD for help.

The clue that cracked the code…

Was a photo of the girl's mother.

A woman in Norway recognized her…

as the late movie star, Julia Ege.

Ege was Miss Norway 1962.

In the '70s, she played the beautiful seductress in a slew of British comedies and horror films.

She was even a James Bond Girl.

Ege had two daughters.

Ella, and Joanna.

Joanna is the girl in the photos.

"I can't believe they've been found again. It's quite incredible…it's extraordinary. There's no other way of putting it."
It turns out, Wang Weiguo couldn't have known…

Just how much these photos would mean to Joanna.

"A couple of years ago, about a year before my mother passed away, our house in Norway burned down in a massive fire and all our family photos burned. And so therefore obviously these pictures become even more valuable than one could ever imagine."
 
Now, Wang can relax.

"I suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. I felt as if I had been carrying an enormous load, and I could finally put it down. I really believe heaven will not disappoint the person who tries."

But…his duty isn't quite done yet.

Not until Joanna Syson comes to Beijing to pick up the photos.

And when she does, Wang, and her memories…

Will be waiting.

For CRI, I'm Allie Johnson.