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No One Missed the Postcard He Sent in 1953. Until some Strangers Cracked a Mystery 72 Years in the Making
The postcard, lost for 72 years after being mailed from the United Nations headquarters, was returned following a genealogical search and postal efforts covering 2,500 miles.
- Postal officials say a postcard mailed from the United Nations Secretariat Building, New York, on June 17, 1953, resurfaced after 72 years and was returned to Rev. F.E. Ball and family.
- In 1953, Alan Ball mailed a two-cent postcard after stopping at the UN before heading to Puerto Rico.
- Local reporters picked up the mysterious card and Tom Collins of The Times called one day last week to tell Dr. Alan Ball, age 88, Sandpoint, Idaho, he might be the sender after Reddick Public Library research.
- When the postcard arrived in Sandpoint a postal worker handed it to Alan Ball, age 88, and apologized, saying `Sorry it's so late.` Ball fondly recalled his Puerto Rico trip as `becoming an adult`.
- Community research and outreach connected archival records to living relatives as retired genealogist Terry Carbone and the LaSalle County Genealogy Guild mobilized local newspaper readers and volunteers in the search.
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14 Articles
14 Articles
Genealogists help return lost postcard to sender 72 years later
A postcard mailed from the United Nations headquarters in New York arrived at the post office in Ottawa, Illinois, in August. It would have been unremarkable, except it had been postmarked at 8 p.m. — on July 17, 1953.
·Atlanta, United States
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Total News Sources14
Leaning Left1Leaning Right1Center12Last UpdatedBias Distribution86% Center
Bias Distribution
- 86% of the sources are Center
86% Center
C 86%
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