How do I save photo attachments to iphoto

I cannot get a photo sent to me to iphoto. I've tried dragging, but nothing drags. I've tried going to file\save attachments which seems to work but then the photo is no where to be found (and yes, I knew where I saved it. I even tried saving to desktop. no luck). I've tried using the save drop down in the mail message details. Doesn't work. I'm running OS X 10.8.5 Thanks.