She thought it was a goner, but the camera came back — the very next decade

A decade after her digital camera was stolen from her apartment in downtown Winnipeg — and after she'd twice replaced the DSLR — Kristin Westdal got a surprise knock on her door.

It was a police officer and he had her camera.

And now that she's got the Canon Rebel EOS DSLR back in her life, in great shape and with its 18-55 mm lens, UV lens filter, SD card and strap and battery still with it, Westdal wants to give it away.

"It's so long ago, I'd forgotten about the camera completely," said Westdal, who now works as a marine biologist and is hoping to give the camera to a budding scientist.

"I just got thinking about all these up-and-coming scientists and people interested in working in biology and I thought a camera is something people could really use in that environment, so I wanted to give it away to somebody who could use it."

Westdal wants aspiring scientists, naturalists and non-profit groups who could use the camera to reach out on Twitter by noon Friday to let her know how they'd use the camera.

She'll pick one submission at random to get the camera, which was new when it was stolen, and all the gear that goes with it.

Westdal couldn't believe it when police told her they found her long-lost camera.

She'd given investigators the camera's serial number after it was stolen, and that's how it found its way home again.

Police kept the records and identified the camera as hers when it recently popped up at a city pawn shop.

"I couldn't believe they found it."

The SD card, which held a stranger's photographs, has been wiped clean for the camera's new owner, Westdal said.

"I started to look at a few [of the pictures] but then I just deleted them," she said. "I didn't want to see them — the person who had the camera last wasn't necessarily the person that stole it."

To see the camera and make your case to receive it, follow Westdal on Twitter.