Valley Stream photo mystery solved — mostly

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One day after publishing a story detailing the more than 50 photos found in abandoned offices above Brancard’s Delicatessan on Rockaway Avenue, the Herald received a Facebook inquiry from one Maria Anderson suggesting that the photos might be of her friend, Maria Oliviero, and her husband Dominick. Maria quickly responded, and Dominick Oliviero recovered the photos at the Herald’s offices on Monday.

“I never thought I would see these pictures again, seriously,” said Dominick, who now lives in Lynbrook, as he thumbed through the photos.

The little boy featured in many of the photographs is his son Mario, he said. Oliviero also pointed to photos from a trip with co-workers to a Subway Series game, as well as from a hiking trip in the southern Sierra Mountains with a group from Outward Bound.

Oliviero said he went on the trip in 1987, where was teamed up with five men and five girls who had to navigate the rugged terrain of the Sierras on their own for two weeks. Outward Bound specializes in wilderness excursions throughout the U.S. that team individuals with groups of strangers. He said that his group only had cheese, tuna and sardines to eat. When they finished their expedition, they partied in a hotel room and had beer and pizza delivered from Domino’s. After the trip, he went to San Francisco, where the photos of the Golden Gate Bridge were taken, he said.

“It was the greatest trip ever,” Dominick said. “Something like this, you want to show your kids.”

He was unable to show his sons the photos, however, because they had been missing for more than 16 years. Dominick said he had worked at a public insurance adjusting office, Eastern Adjustment, from 1996 to 2002 and had the photos in his office. But in 2002, he had a falling out with his partner and left Eastern Adjustment, which then became Albanese & Associates.

“I thought I had taken everything,” he said. “But obviously, these were in a drawer or whatever.” Dominick said he noticed later that the photos were missing, but did not want to go back to the office.

Four of the photos found by the property’s landlord, Niko Moshopolous, as he was cleaning out the offices to convert them into apartments, did not belong to Dominick, however. Those photos feature a man talking on a corded phone, as well as a boat cruise around the New York City. They can be seen at www.liherald.com/valleystream.

Dominick also said that he did not recognize the man and woman in a wedding photo that has been hanging on the side of a refrigerator at Brancard’s Delicatessan for the past few weeks. “They may have been a client or something like that, but I don’t know why we would have had a wedding photo,” he said.

But Lorraine Sandeen may have an idea. The same day that Maria and Dominick claimed the photos, the Herald received a telephone call from Sandeen, who said that the woman in the wedding photo looked like Diane Scapecchi, a 1962 classmate from Valley Stream Central High School. Sandeen also said that while they were in high school, Scapecchi was dating a boy named Kenny, but she did not know whether he was the man in the photograph. No contact information for Scapecchi has been found.

Anyone with information about the people in the five remaining photos is encouraged to reach out to the Herald at (516) 569-4000, ext. 202, or email mkoenig@liherald.com. Tips can also be sent to our reporter, Melissa Koenig, via social media at the Valley Stream Herald Facebook page or @MelissaGKoenig on Twitter using the hashtag #FindthePhotosOwnersVS.