Mail mystery solved as NJ man returns lost letters

Lost letters returned

A New Jersey man who had letters that were lost for 75 years delivered to his home and has been trying to return them to their rightful owners has made a breakthrough.

NEW JERSEY - "The hair on my arm is sticking up you get goosebumps, you know, and it's just really a special."

Gary Katen's goosebumps come from solving a decades-old mystery.

Katen said the entire experience started when he opened his mailbox at his home in Hackensack, New Jersey, and discovered a letter postmarked with the year 1946.

The envelope had the right address it just arrived seven decades too late.

"I open up the mailbox and I get this letter and I’m like, Ok, first of all, this isn't me. It's airmail and I then look closely, and it's dated May 4th, 1946 is the postmark. Wow. 75 years ago!" Katen said.

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Gary got another similar letter a few weeks later curious, he decided to read them. A young engaged couple in post-World War two America was writing home to their parents who once lived in Gary's home.

Eager to return the correspondence Gary started to dig only to hit several dead-ends at the post office. He asked FOX 5 NY to tell his story, so we did, and right after that Gary's hard work delivered results.

FOX 5 NY joined Gary for the long-awaited meeting between Gary and Bruce Barthold, the son of Jean and Richard Barthold, who sent the letters back home to their parent, Bruce's grandparents, Eugene and Nellie Franck.

"Thank you so much for just not pitching the letters," Bruce told Gary.

According to Barthold, the younger couple were traveling in California and took pictures at the Petrified Forest and Hermosa Beach. They also mailed postcards and letters along the way. Most made it on time except the two that landed in Gary's mailbox more than 70 years late.

Bruce lives in Texas and his sister Patricia in California. Their parents and grandparents have all died, making this bit of family history all the more meaningful.

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

For Gary, connecting the past with the present has been rewarding. He now some history about his house including a picture of that young couple in love standing in front of it.

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