'Heirloom Investigator' Returns WWII Love Letters Found in Staten Island Home

The adult daughter of a WWII veteran received wartime letters from her father to her mother 30 years after a Staten Island homeowner found them during a renovation, MyHeritage.com reported on February 7.

Staten Island resident Dottie said she found the letters in the ceiling of her renovated home 30 years ago. While recently watching The Kelly Clarkson Show, Dottie saw “heirloom investigator” Chelsey Brown, and reached out to her right away.

The letters were signed by Claude Marsten Smythe and addressed to his wife, Marie Borgal Smythe. With Brown’s help, and the use of genealogy website MyHeritage.com, they managed to track down Claude and Marie’s daughter, Vermont resident Carol Bohlin.

Photos taken in Carol’s home show the happy daughter reunited with her parents’ correspondence.

In a press release provided by MyHeritage, Brown said, “This one was so special because I didn’t actually know if the descendants would ever see my message about the letters (sometimes that happens)! This one was also particularly special because this wasn’t an artifact that I found. A woman who was doing a renovation in the ’90s found these letters in her house, and she didn’t know what to do with them for years. She’d held onto them until she discovered what I did.” Credit: MyHeritage.com via Storyful

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