An emotional photo of Rabbi Eli Schlanger Hy”d and ybl”ch Leibel Lazaroff at the Chanukah by the Sea menorah lighting has come to light, months after it was taken on the night of the massacre. The photo was retrieved from the camera of photographer Peter Meagher OBM.

Leibel had arrived in Sydney less than six weeks before the attack to work at Chabad of Bondi. He was wounded in the attack and subsequently made a miraculous recovery.

Peter was a 61-year-old retired NSW Police detective-sergeant who had been working a freelance assignment at the event, printing photo magnets for attendees. He had photographed Chabad community events in Sydney for close to five years. He was tragically killed in the brutal attack.

In the chaos following the shooting, Meagher’s camera was stolen by a 35-year-old man who had also been hired as a photographer at the event. He allegedly pawned it shortly afterward for $800.

Meagher’s widow appealed publicly in March for information about the missing camera. NSW Police, through Strike Force Pearl, identified the suspect and executed a search warrant at a home in Sydney’s northwest, recovering the camera along with an SD card containing photographs taken before the attack.

The suspect was charged with larceny and several additional offenses and is due to appear in court on June 22.

Meagher’s widow said she would pass the photographs on to event organizers and the families of victims.