20-Year-Old Mystery of WWII Suitcase Solved with Hour-Long Internet Search

Thursday, 09 September 2010 | by Pat's Picks

A woman who found an old suitcase filled with World War II mementos, love letters and photos near the Lincoln Memorial when she was a child has always wanted to find the suitcase’s rightful owner. For years, she tried before tucking it away in a garage. After recently rediscovering the mysterious briefcase, the woman did a quick Internet search and solved the 20-year-old mystery in less than an hour says the Cincinnati Enquirer. She located the briefcase owner’s daughter who said it was stolen on a trip to DC in 1990, part of a cross-country road trip to identify some of the women who’d written love letters to her father.

The Enquirer photographed the briefcase’s contents before it was returned and the photos are fascinating. Among the gems are an Army-issued German phrasebook, a tag for a pistol, pictures of several different women and an “unsatisfactory” course completion for an accounting class.