Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s Stolen Film Drop Box Mysteriously Returned After 15 Years of Being Missing

Editor's note: This article was written by a Townsquare Media Northern New England contributor and may contain the individual's views, opinions or personal experiences.

This is one of those stories that may never have an ending.

Some may consider this story to be the ending of one that started 15 years ago.

Let's back up:

15 years ago, in 2007, a film drop-off box was stolen. The box rested at Hovey's Photo and Audio Supply at 999 Islington St. in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

From my understanding, it was a place to drop off your film and have it developed. You know, before the world of iPhones and iCloud meant things could be digitally saved and stored forever.

So, this drop box goes missing in 2007. Now, 15 years later, it has been returned to the original site in near-perfect condition.

Why?

I do not know if we will ever find out.

After Jon Winslow posted the mysterious box to a Portsmouth, NH, Facebook page, I followed up hoping to find answers.

I did not get many.

Here is what I did get.

The box was dropped off Saturday, May 21, 2022 at 10:12 AM, so the person clearly wasn't hiding since it was the middle of the morning. The box weighs nearly 200 pounds, so the suspect must have been strong.

Lastly, there is video footage; however, we do not get to see that just yet (it's likely with police). The video was taken from Jon's daughter, who owns a business where it was dropped off.

I am sure no one will be angry at the thief from 15 years ago. Maybe...

My biggest question is why? Why steal a drop box?

Perhaps they had some film or pictures that they did not want anyone seeing. Maybe this is a blackmail case.

Or, more likely, maybe it was a college student who made a tipsy decision and regretted it 15 years later. Which, if that is the case, awesome - but why 15 years? Why hold on to it for so long?

And oh, was there anything in there worthy of developing? We have questions and we need answers.

If you know who took this/returned it, please get connected with me. Not to harass the individual, but to ask why now and why then.