Law regarding ownership of something?

Ok, there is a bit of a story behind this. This whole incident happened years ago, but it is something I have always been curious about. I dated a guy for a short time a few years back. We both moved out of the city we grew up in, to separate cities for university (the Cities are still pretty close though, within a few hours drive from eachother) Anyways, we broke up shortly after, and I went home because I was pretty sad about it. While home, I found out he cheated on me, and was understandably angry. A mutual friend of ours had his digital camera which he had left there when he moved. Said mutual friend gave it to me, because he was angry with my Ex as well (not the first time this guy had fu*ked around). Being the immature jerk I was at the time, I took it and he found out. At first, I said I wouldn't give it back, then the next day I realized I was being stupid and told him he could come by and get it whenever he wanted. Like I said, we lived in different cities, but he drove through my city sometimes to go home and visit, so it wasn't out of his way. So about 2 years passed and I never heard from him regarding the camera. I came across it while moving and my mom asked me about it. I told her it was his but he never claimed it. She took it home to give to my brother (I have my own camera now) and when she tried to use it, found it was broken and threw it away. It was an older camera so it probably just wore out. I never really used it, it just kinda sat around my house.

So, my question is, if you have something of someones, you tell them they can have it back, and they never claim it, is there a point it becomes legally yours? In this case, it was a cheap old camera so I'm not worried about him saying I stole it and pressing charges or anything, but say you had something worth more, for a long time, and it's owner never claimed. Is there a point you could sell or get rid of it legally? What if it is something big and annoying like a car or TV, and it's taking up space? You don't want it, and they won't pick it up, can you get rid of that? I have just always wondered...thanks! Sorry for the length of this one :P