Photographer Reunited With Missing 9/11 Plaque After Reddit Post

A photographer has been reunited with his long-lost 9/11 commemorative plaque — a piece he thought he would never see again — after it was discovered by a stranger and traced back to him through a Reddit post.

William Lopez, a longtime New York Post photographer, received the commemorative plaque years ago. It contained a fragment of steel from the World Trade Center shaped into the Twin Towers alongside one of his photographs from September 11, 2001.

According to a report by the New York Post, Lopez’s photograph — which has been archived in the Library of Congress — depicts two New York City Fire Department (FDNY) firefighters embracing after realizing they had both survived the attack and rescue efforts. The photo was taken at sunset on September 11.

Lopez spent the day at Ground Zero documenting events, including the collapse of the towers. At the time, Lopez was a freelance photographer. He submitted his image of the firefighters to a gallery organized by Bolivar Arellano, another New York Post photographer who has since retired. The exhibition featured about 20 images by New York photographers and raised funds for first responders.

As a gesture of appreciation, Lopez and other contributing photographers each received a plaque. His plaque contained his photograph encased in plexiglass next to a representation of the Twin Towers made from recovered steel. The exhibit raised more than $50,000 for first responders.

Lopez lost the plaque during a housing move around a decade ago. He believed that he would never see the irreplaceable piece again.

“I thought I’d never see it again, and I accepted it,” Lopez tells the New York Post. “I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I got it back. I was so overwhelmed with emotion.”

But then, around six or seven years after it went missing, Brooklyn resident Sheena Pisarro found the plaque among discarded items in East Williamsburg, New York.

“I knew it was a piece of importance, and in my gut I knew it didn’t belong there,” Pissaro says.

According to a report by New York news outlet AMNY, the plaque, which weighs several pounds due to the steel, remained on a shelf in her apartment for about seven years.

However, while preparing to paint her apartment recently, Pisarro noticed a label on the back reading “Bolivar Arellano Gallery.” She then posted a photo of the plaque on Reddit and asked if anyone knew anything about the image.

Robert Arellano, Bolivar’s son, responded and directed her to a reporter familiar with New York photographers. A Library of Congress search confirmed the photo was Lopez’s, captioned: “Two firefighters embrace upon being reunited, after each feared the other was lost, following September 11th terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, New York City / William C. Lopez.”

Lopez was contacted with a photo of the plaque and confirmed it was his. On Tuesday, Pisarro returned the plaque to Lopez at the same location where she originally found it. The two met in person, and Lopez reflected on the memories it carried and how grateful he was to Pisarro.

“I was just floored,” Lopez says. “I could not believe someone found it, that it still existed, and that there was a chance I was going to get it back.”