A box containing family memorabilia lost on an Auckland motorway has been reunited with its owner.
This box containing photos and family memorabilia, some of it dating back to World War 2, was found on Auckland’s SH16 earlier this month. Photo: Supplied / NZTA
The box containing photos and family documents was found by a maintenance crew on State Highway 16 earlier this month.
Owner Michael Land said the contents were irreplaceable.
The box contained childhood photos, family records, and a letter of condolence from King George VI after the death of Mr Land's grandfather, who was a flying officer.
Mr Land thinks the box fell off the back of a truck moving personal effects from Pakuranga to Kumeu.
"I didn't realise I'd lost the box but I recognised the photo of it as soon as I saw it in the media."
The box was found on the Northwestern Motorway near the Great North Road Interchange just over two weeks ago when a Waterview Tunnel crew went to investigate reports of debris in a traffic lane.
Incident Response team leader Mel Stack said the box was just sitting there.
"There was nothing on the box to secure the lid so it's just luck that its contents weren't blown all over the motorway."
He took the box back to the depot and, with other staff, began looking for clues to track down its owner.
"I even took the box to a house in Mt Roskill that we identified in one of the photos. It turned out it had been Mr Land's old family home but they'd moved away years ago."
Mr Land thanked the team for taking care of his valuables and trying to find him.
"I'm very grateful for what they did."