Man Solves 75-Year-Old Mystery After Receiving Letters From 1946

A New Jersey man solved a 75-year-old mystery after several letters arrived at his house that were not addressed to him.

Gary Katen said when he opened his mailbox and saw the letter, he realized it was dated May 4, 1946. He said at first he thought his friends were playing a joke on him, but a few weeks later, another letter arrived and he decided to open them.

To his dismay, the letters were real. Katen realized that the letters were from a young couple writing home to their parents who once resided in the home. While the handwriting was tough to read, he said one letter described the young couple's trip to California.

He quickly became interested in returning the letters to their proper owner. He attempted to find information at the post office and reviewed property records but was unsuccessful.

It is rare for a letter to get lost in the mail. Although it's hard to measure, it is estimated that less than three percent of mail gets lost in the United States. If a package or letter is recovered after a search request is filed, the U.S. Postal Service will resend the mail.

For some packages, the shipping label might have fallen off during the shipment process or someone used an incorrect address so it was undeliverable. Other instances include bad weather rubbing off the recipient's name and address.

After no success locating the family, Katen told Fox5 New York to publicly share his story.

A few days after the local station reported about the letters, Bruce Barthold got in contact. Barthold was the son of Jean and Richard Barthold, the newlywed couple from the letter.

Barthold and Katen were able to meet in person and Katen was able to return the antique letters and meet the family they belonged to.

Barthold told Katen that his parents were traveling through California and mailed postcards and letters back home – all except for two.

The man's sister, Patricia, explained that being reunited with their family's history was amazing because their grandparents and parents were no longer alive.

"It's like winning the lottery," Patricia told Fox5. "It is. It's amazing."

For Katen, being able to return the letters to the Bartholds felt rewarding and also taught him a little about the history of his home.

"I feel like I've known them forever," Gary said. "It's like they're part of our family."

As for how the letter was resent decades later, it is still unclear. A spokesman for The United States Postal Service told Fox5 that it's possible someone discovered the old letter and decided to resend it.

"What we typically find is that old mail pieces, like these, are found by someone and then deposited into one of our collection boxes," U.S.P.S. Communications specialist Xavier Hernandez said. "Old letters and postcards can also be purchased at flea markets, antique shops, and even be purchased online, then they are re-entered into the system. In most cases, these incidents do not involve mail that has been lost in the network and later found."