BOSTON (WHDH) - When his brother passed away, Eric Townsend found comfort in family home movies.
“These are the memories that put a smile on your face when you need it most,” said Eric.
The movies helped remind Eric and his family of the happy times they all shared with Ryan before depression led him to take his own life.
“He had so many good qualities that he didn’t know about himself. These (movies) are things that I want to show my kids. They’re not going to know him,” said Townsend
Eric gathered up forty years of movie memories – dozens of VHS tapes – and mailed them to a company that promised to digitize them.
“It’s expensive. It’s five hundred bucks,” said Eric.
He sent them in December – taking special care to protect such precious pieces.
“I triple taped it to make sure no weather would get to it.”
In January a customer service representative told Eric they had received the tapes and would need a few weeks to process them.
But two months later he got heartbreaking news.
“The guy asked me what size box was it? What was in it? What did it contain? Like – you lost it!” said Eric.
Eric checked with the shipping company he used and was told the tapes were delivered.
So the video company started an investigation.
“They concluded they couldn’t locate the box,” said Eric.
Eric only has these videos because he recorded some short clips on his cellphone. He is desperate to get his tapes back. So he posted a plea for the missing movies on a Facebook group in Tennessee where the video company is located – hoping someone might be able to help.
That post has been shared more than 14-thousand times.
“I don’t want to give up but I need some help or conclusion at some point. I don’t want to conclude that it’s gone,” said Eric.
We reached out to the video company but no one called us back or responded to our messages.
Eric says he just wants the videotapes back.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)