A Colorado woman who got engaged in New York this fall has tracked down a stranger who unknowingly captured her proposal from a perfect second angle. Jillian Anderson turned to social media after spotting a woman filming from a rowboat in her original engagement video. Thanks to the internet, she found her.
Anderson’s fiancé, Chris Telfair, proposed during their October visit to Central Park. She said she had a feeling something was coming, but was still taken aback when the moment actually happened. “I had my suspicions, but it was a total surprise,”.
Later, while watching the video of the proposal, Anderson realized someone in a boat nearby had been recording the scene. She immediately wanted the footage, though she had no idea who the woman was or how to reach her in a city as large as New York.
Anderson posted a clip of the engagement on social media and asked for help tracking down the mystery woman. “I posted it, and it went crazy viral that day, which was insane. I didn’t think it would get that much attention,” she says.
Within hours, her video had more than 15 million views and 2 million likes. Viewers around the world began searching engagement posts from Central Park and tagging Anderson in anything that seemed close. She says it took about two days before someone finally reached out with a lead.
A TikTok user recognized the woman in the boat and connected Anderson with DulceMaría Rivera, a tourist from Mexico who was visiting New York with her boyfriend to celebrate their anniversary. Rivera said they had been struggling to steer their rowboat on the lake when they noticed the proposal unfolding.
“I immediately started recording while we tried to move, thinking we would ruin the scene, which was a total failure,” Rivera wrote in a statement to TODAY.com. “We couldn’t get it right fast enough. He and I commented on how beautiful a proposal it was, like something out of a movie.”
@itsjillianandersonn TikTok do your thing and find her!! #centralpark #proposal #engagement #proposalideas #findher @ABC7NY @NBC New York @CBS New York @Good Morning America @TODAY Show @CBS Mornings
♬ Sweet Nothing Start – Teagan
Rivera later uploaded the video to her own social media pages after returning home. When people began tagging her in Anderson’s search video, she realized what was happening. She contacted Anderson and sent her the footage.
Anderson posted the “boat girl POV” to TikTok, delighting viewers who had followed the search. Many commented that they were thrilled to see the two women connect.
Anderson and Telfair plan to marry in Italy in 2027. She says the proposal itself became its own unexpected adventure. The couple, who work for the same marketing agency, were filming lifestyle content that day, pretending to be newly engaged for a brand. When they reached a scenic spot in Central Park, Telfair asked a woman on a bench to take their photo.
“As she had the phone, she tried to position us to center us, and then all of a sudden he turned to me and that’s when he got down on one knee and started proposing,” Anderson says.
READ NEXT
- Amanda Seyfried Opens Up About Balancing Motherhood and Her Career
- New Allegation Says Andrew Admitted Epstein Had Been “Inappropriate” With Another Woman
- Met Police taking new look at 1999 CCTV evidence in ongoing Jill Dando murder investigation
- Experts say Sarah Ferguson Could ‘Air Out Dirty Laundry’ for Money
- JoJo Siwa Explains She Fainted Before Black Friday Show While Dealing With a Burst Cyst
