He had been working for so many years that each job was starting to blur into the next. He was convinced that the next one that he had been called to would be as mundane as the rest. But it wasn’t long after he arrived that he realized that this experience was going to be anything but ordinary. As he looked closer, he saw that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He had to let the pastor know what he had found…
Worthless Find
As the plumber turned his van into the school’s parking, he took a brisk walk into the building and was guided to the troublesome toilet. The professional leaned behind the toilet seat to check the vent installed there. Something was off in this spot, but he decided to carry on with his normal procedure. He then turned his attention to the vent fitted into the bathroom wall and popped it open. As he creaked open the covering, various objects fell on him. Just what had been stashed here of all places, and for how long?
Worthless Find
The Jaw-Dropping Discovery
The pastor had incredible things in store for the tragically neglected school. The community was incredibly excited to see the direction that he would take it. But things were not going as planned within the building itself when the plumber brought the pastor’s attention to the strange stash he had found. Both men had never seen anything like what had been buried in that space. This did not take away from the pastor’s passions, however, as he was dedicated to resolving this anomaly and getting the restoration work back on track.
The Jaw Dropping Discovery
Females Only?
The pastor had come across the faulty bathroom while he was busy doing the needed inspections of the building. It didn’t take long for him to realize that he would need to call in a plumber to fix the grizzly place as he did not have the needed skills to do it himself. Pastor Seth then called in the gentleman that would do the job. The events that unfolded pushed the plumber in question to remain anonymous, so you sadly will not be able to hire him!
Females Only
Spellbinding Tale
Let us now learn more about the abandoned school, which was established during the 40s. This was a center where kids not only received a standard education, but also learned more about life and love. The decades had not been kind on the school, however, and it was eventually deserted due to shoddy maintenance. Here and there, the foundations were coming apart, and the hallways and classrooms were starting to crumble. One thing was for sure, however, this was a place that had plenty of stories hiding within.
Spellbinding Tale
Secret Hunting
The pastor knew that he would stumble across some strange or even dangerous things during his inspection. The building was almost a hundred years old, after all. But what the plumber brought Pastor Seth blew away any of his expectations. Treasures like these weren’t supposed to be hidden in abandoned buildings, let alone schools! The pastor then revealed the sensational find to KSDK News and went on camera to talk about the plumber’s incredible find.
Secret Hunting
Television Worthy
Pastor Seth was passionately describing the discovery in a way that made viewers feel like they were watching some kind of crime series. Certainly, the pastor felt like he was in an episode of CSI. Certainly, the school was quite eerie and foreboding in its current state, but the realization that such old buildings could easily be holding treasure is enough to inspire many people to begin poking around condemned sites. Not that we would ever recommend that you do the same!
Television Worthy
The Unbelievable Unveiling
Pastor Seth continued with his story by describing what the plumber that he had contracted to fix the toilet discovered. The journalist interviewing him and the people watching from home were all fascinated to learn about the vent that the plumber had unsealed after who knows how many years. The pastor commented that the plumber had at first not known what he had unleashed, before he realized that the contents of this hidden vault could be of high interest. Namely, a collection of leather squares…
The Unbelievable Unveiling
Patchwork Enigma
Upon unsealing the vent, the pieces tumbled out of the vault. The plumber had probably come across some curious things in his line of work, but this must have taken the cake. In total, fifteen pieces of leather had been stashed in a vent behind a toilet seat. On closer inspection, the plumber realized that this was some kind of puzzle, and that once the pieces were combined, the true treasure would be revealed… The plumber excitedly rushed to the pastor to reveal his secret find.
Patchwork Enigma
Windows Into The Past
The leather squares turned out to be a series of fifteen wallets that had somehow been lifted from or dropped by their original owners. This was the most unusual ‘treasure trove’ imaginable. The plumber was no detective, however, and he could not fathom what the significance of this highly personal collection was. He had seen some strange things in his life, but this find was downright baffling. Inside the wallets he found a collection of old photos of people.
Windows Into The Past
The Wallets’ Contents
The plumber knew that he would need help to uncover the unfolding mystery, and he was obviously obliged to let the pastor know that his property held some obscure secrets. The pastor was equally shocked and he rushed to gather his colleagues. Together, perhaps they could make more sense of the situation, as they began opening the worn wallets to reveal all manner of incredible portraits of people that seemed to have been taken in the 40s.
The Wallets Contents
The Mystery Motherload
As previously mentioned, the stash was uncovered behind a toilet of all places. Someone had gone out of their way to cram a load of wallets into this murky spot, and despite the unsanitary conditions, the wallets had stayed in one piece. Pastor Seth cradled one of the wallets carefully and slowly pried it open. Its contents caused his heart to skip a beat. Just what the pastor uncovered, and did the contents bear personal significance for the man?
The Mystery Motherload
The Man With Mystery
Like any modern person that comes across something fascinating, Pastor Seth took to Facebook to share the plumber and his astounding find. He uploaded pictures of the wallets, and in his story, he wrote that he suspected that the obscure wallets had been hidden in the bathroom after someone pocketed all the money. All that was left was a historic collection of family photographs, which were still astounding for the pastor and his dedicated crew.
The Man With Mystery
Nameless Photos
The people in the pictures must have had their wallets stolen, at least that was what the pastor believed. Beyond the photographs, there were also documents within the medium-sized wallets. But despite how much information he could get from these bills and documents, Pastor Seth believed that he would never find their original owners, if they were even still around. That did not stop his burning curiosity from driving him to solve the mystery, however!
Nameless Photos
Back In The Day
Although the pastor had guessed that these pictures had been taken some time around the 40s, he could not be completely sure. Further, many of the pictures had been taken decades apart, around twenty to thirty years in total. The documents and photographs had strangely all been left respectfully in place within the wallets and the writing had been preserved legibly. There were a few nicks and scratches in the pictures and documents, which were still in good shape.
Back In The Day
Relics Of The Past
The plumber had come across an incredible collection of personal and intimate pictures of all manner of people. There were photographs of kids, women, and children of all walks of life. Of course, all that they could go on was what they looked like, and any further information could only be guessed, beyond the obvious. Pastor Seth and the team continued searching the wallets for more information. Was it a futile effort, or was the church crew going to find a lead?
Relics Of The Past
Beyond Time
The wallets had been stashed around the time that World War II was coming to an end. This was made evident by the various soldiers and sailors who had appeared in uniform in the pictures. This was a detail that Pastor Seth shared with his Facebook audience. There were ID cards in the wallets too, of course. They belonged to students that had attended this very same school. Incredibly, each ID card had once been held by female students.
Beyond Time
Putting The Pieces Together
Pastor Seth was not just a good man of God, he also proved to be a respectable detective, as he had managed to begin learning things about America’s incredible past through these wallets and pictures. He could almost be sure that there were pictures that had been taken all the way back to the Great Depression, which had taken place in the 30s. He was amazed to see how the people and scenes had changed across the years.
Putting The Pieces Together
A Different World
Of course, Pastor Seth could be sure of when some pictures had been taken, as there were dates written on some documents and pictures. There was a young woman that had her ID card inserted into this collection, and Seth realized that she had attended the school halfway through the 1940s. It then became evident to Seth that the wallets had been inserted into the bathroom around 75 years in the past. Seth also detailed in his Facebook post how he and his team were attempting to sort the wallets according to name.
A Different World
Guessing Game
The main question that Seth was struggling to answer was why these wallets had been taken from their original owners. He could understand why a thief would want to hide the evidence of a big take, but why not just burn the wallets? A school is certainly the last place that most criminals would think to hide evidence. Or, it could have been that the female students whose IDs he found had hidden all these wallets on purpose.
Guessing Game
Young Thieves
After much homework, Seth and his team finally established the true range that the photographs had been taken. He was quite confident that they had been snapped between 1945 and 1946. The pastor was convinced that the theft had taken place around that time too, and that the criminal in question had hidden their take in the bathroom. It is amazing to think that had Pastor Seth not acquired the old school and begun renovating it, these wallets may have stayed in this bathroom for all eternity.
Young Thieves
Perished
Seth was under the impression that the original owners of the wallets could still be walking around today, or at least barely hanging on. The best way forward was to then track down the relatives of the people in the photos. Pastor Seth commented during interviews with news agencies that he and his crew had been working on renovating the school for around half a year when they stumbled on this incredible find. Seth was very interested in returning the wallets, but he had to be clever.
Perished
Faces Of The Past
Seth was questioned as to why he was so incredibly committed to returning the wallets and pictures to their rightful owners, or at least the closest people to them. He responded by saying that these photographs would obviously be very precious to the relevant families. It was the right thing to do, and it would be an incredible service to his community. Can you imagine being handed an incredible collection of pictures and documents of your beloved family members?
Faces Of The Past
Social Media Search
Making their way to the police would be a wasted effort for Seth and his team, as this crime had been committed so long ago that it would be a futile pursuit. Seth was going to have to rely on his Facebook post to get some answers. To make things easier for everyone, he provided the young women’s maiden names, which he obtained from their ID cards. He was hoping that some distant connection of the people in question would see the post.
Social Media Search
Popular Post
Pastor Seth listed eight women’s names in the hopes that someone would recognize them and know where they were, or at least their surviving relatives. If someone had any information, then they could contact Seth directly and help him to retrieve the wallet to its rightful owner. The fact that this post was being shared by thousands of people made Seth very hopeful. In total, the original post would be shared more than five thousand times! Seth had never expected that it would go so viral. But would it reach the right people?
Popular Post
Betty Sisson Joins
Pastor Seth’s post was making the digital rounds and many thousands of people were commenting. Some were claiming to be related to the people that the pastor had listed. But were they being honest? We all know how much people love to lie on the internet. It was now time to ask the question again: was this going to be a fruitful pursuit? Things were about to take a turn when a lady called Betty Sisson contacted Seth.
Betty Sisson Joins
A Highschool Graduate
Betty Sisson began a conversation with Pastor Seth where she informed the pastor that she attended Centralia High School and graduated in 1947. Upon graduating, Betty migrated to Chesterfield, Missouri, which was around 90 miles away from Centralia High School. The KSDK journalists were thrilled that someone relevant had finally contacted Seth, and with his permission, began tracking Betty down. They managed to find the elderly lady, who was finally returned her wallet that she lost as a child many years ago.
A Highschool Graduate
Those Precious Memories
As the media crew was about to pass the old lady her possessions, the cameras were ready to capture the incredible exchange. As the media crew introduced themselves to Betty, they informed the woman that Pastor Seth was eager to personally deliver the wallet to her. Once Betty received her wallet from her long-past youth, she was overcome with emotion, a bitter-sweet mixture of excitement and nostalgia. It must have been incredible seeing something so important from your youth again.
Those Precious Memories
In The End
The team passed Betty the wallet, which was more like a time capsule than anything. Betty could not hide her fascination with the objects, and seeing pictures of herself as a young woman must have been incredible. She was so grateful to Pastor Seth for having brought this personal treasure to her directly, and the part that KSDK News played. After all this time, Betty was finally going to get her perhaps long-forgotten wallet back and the precious memories that it contained.
In The End
Amazing Condition
Betty finally held in her hands that wallet that she had parted ways with so many years ago. She could not believe how old it looked, and how many years it had been away from her. Betty couldn’t help but laugh happily as she looked through the wallet’s contents. The wallet had originally been bright red in color, but the years had turned it a rusty brown! Despite having been kept in good condition, the wallets’ covers had faded over the many years.
Amazing Condition
Young Love
Everyone present in Betty’s home was delighted and touched to see her so emotional as she looked through her old wallet. She carefully took out every item and laid them down on her coffee table. One of the first things to come out was a picture of a girl and boy. Betty’s eyes softened as she looked at the young couple, saying that the young boy was called Jimmy Kane. Betty was the girl, of course, and she said that she used to carry this picture around with her everywhere.
Young Love
Old Youngsters
When questioned regarding the date of the amazing picture. Betty wasn’t exactly sure what day it was taken, but she was certain that it was in 3rd or 4th grade. There were more incredible things to look at in the wallet, of course. These pictures had all been preserved for more than 75 years, and were now being returned to their subject almost a century later. While observing the photographs, Betty came across one that made her scream with excitement.
Old Youngsters
The Other Guy
The picture that had caused Betty so much excitement turned out to be of another boy, one for who she had also had feelings. She was amazed at how many boys’ pictures she had in her wallet! She could not stop herself from being so excited, something that she admitted to the journalists. When she had finished looking at the pictures, she checked the money folder, which of course was empty. She was a bit sad to know that she had been robbed.
The Other Guy
The Soldier
That was when Betty turned her attention back to the pictures. There was one in particular that caused her to fall silent, and she seemed deep in thought. This picture was of incredible significance to Betty as the man in it looked so much like her brother. Betty’s brother had sadly died serving during World War II and it still hurt Betty when she thought of how he had been unable to return. Her eyes began tearing up as she thanked the news crew for providing her with a picture of her and her brother, the only one in existence.
The Soldier
Thrilling Discoveries
Betty had so much more to uncover, however, as the photographs and other documents within the wallet would prove. Beyond the pictures, Betty found a faded security card. This important document had gone missing in 1945 and she had always wondered how it had been lost. The news crew was eager to learn what Betty’s opinion was on how the wallet had gone missing in a toilet air vent. Was she as amazed as everyone else had been?
Thrilling Discoveries
Hiding In Plain Sight
Betty could not believe that someone had gone to such great efforts to not only steal her and many other people’s wallets, but to then hide them in the school bathroom. She had been walking around the corridors and probably used the bathroom many times where her wallet had been hidden. So, there Betty was, finally reunited with her wallet and its memories. But what about the other people that had been stolen from? Would Pastor Seth manage to find them, too?
Hiding In Plain Sight
More Women
The meaningful Facebook post that started this entire mission might have been shared hundreds of times a day, but it was still not making much progress beyond Betty. No one was contacting Seth with any valid information, and the days began to pass, until someone reached out to him in connection with four names on the list. Beyond that, there was little excitement. Pastor Seth was starting to lose hope, and he felt rather sad.
More Women
Keep It Up
This sadness did not stop Seth from being positive, however, and he was sure that one day someone would come forward and claim what was rightfully theirs. Seth spoke to the news agency and said that he and his crew were always praying for answers, and that this time capsule was a major find, regardless of how took it. They also weren’t surprised to learn that people all around the country were falling in love with this story.
Keep It Up
Unique Treasures
One person who read Seth’s story in full could not believe that he had stumbled upon such a phenomenal find. He was more impressed with the plumber for finding the stash, rather than shocked that someone had stolen and hidden all those wallets. The history behind these objects was so inspiring for many. They could not wait to find out if the wallets’ original owners would come forward, or not. It all came down to a waiting game.
Unique Treasures
They Belonged In A Museum
Many commentors were speaking their minds freely and openly. One person suggested that this incredible find would better be held by a museum if their original owners did not end up claiming them. Those that commented would turn into quite the colorful bunch, with some sketchy types praising the thief for having hidden the wallets in such a good place! The comment regarding the museum was starting to gain a lot of momentum, it seemed.
They Belonged In A Museum
A Lack Of Proof
Then there were those commentators that wanted to express their contempt for the thief, who they regarded as evil. They knew that the only way to find the original thief would be to find the original owners, who might have some leads or clues. But there was one thing that puzzled everyone, and that was the fact that the wallets had been left with their respective owners’ identity cards. The bathroom wall had been stashed with much personal information.
A Lack Of Proof
Conspiracy Theories
While discussing the case with the news agencies, Pasto Seth confessed that he had formed some theories while rationalizing the wallets’ placement. He believed that the thief had been very clever to choose this location to hide the wallets, as no one would ever find them. Seth was, of course, right, as the wallets had only been found nearly a century later, and by complete chance! The thief also knew that there would be very little evidence to catch him or her with.
Conspiracy Theories
Disturbing Thoughts
The Facebook post that Seth had originally posted had now been left unanswered for so long that those still interested in the case were starting to develop twisted thoughts. One user commented that there was a chance that this was the actions of a serial killer who was training themselves for the real deal! People were starting to get a bit too creative with the wallet case, thanks to how long it had been left unsolved. Had these wallets been stolen all at once, or had the thief been gathering them steadily?
Disturbing Thoughts
Beyond Material
While money had been the main reason that people thought that the thief had stolen the wallets for, there were more interesting theories that were starting to develop. Many believed that the thief had some bigger motive to taking these wallets. Betty, on the other hand, is also very interested to find out the truth, and eagerly awaits any further leads. She also wondered how many of her fellow former classmates would have their possessions returned.
Beyond Material
Passion For The Past
The plumber had not just uncovered something that was objectively valuable to the real owners, he had also awakened something in Seth. This was a pastor who cared about history almost as much as religion, and he was dedicated to hoarding antiques and relics. He had acquired the old school in the first place thanks to his passion for the past. This wasn’t his first restoration project, as he had also worked on an Elementary School, 7 years ago.
Passion For The Past
Moving On
Seth had turned the Elementary School into something worthy of a church, but it was now time to move on. He found it difficult to say goodbye to that school-turned-church that he had given so much of his life to, and amazingly, had also attended. But he knew that he and his congregation needed a new place to call home. Since finding the treasure, Seth and his team have been working on their new venue for around a year. He has now become attached to the new venue, and cannot wait to see how it turns out!
Moving On
Hindsight
Seth was busy clearing the place out, feeling rather emotional, and started looking around for anything else that needed trashing or fixing before he left. That was when he started getting nostalgic, and thought back to an incredible moment where he found something that he still treasures. He found an ID card behind some lockers while he was clearing the area out, one that had belonged to a good friend. Beyond his ID, he also located an exam paper that had been written by another pal of his.
Hindsight
Over My Shoulder
It was in 1998 that Seth graduated from his old school. As he walked through the doors for the supposedly last time, he never considered that he would be returning. Ironically, he would end up owning the place in the future! He had become quite sentimental when he had first returned to the school, and he knew that he owed the place a lot of good work and love. He then got to work upgrading the place.
Over My Shoulder
Calling For Backup
Seth might be a larger-than-life kind of character, but that does not mean that he did everything alone. Far from it, as he had a big team that consisted of a lot of faithful and passionate individuals. They made the demolition and revamping procedure far easier and smoother. Some people that came to help had not been the best of friends during their schooling years, and others had some very difficult memories brought back. But through it all, Pastor Seth was fully supported.
Calling For Backup
Waiting For Reinforcements
Seth and his crew realized that the items that they had found were just a few of the joys to be had in this place. Others were going to find an incredible therapeutic effect here, and smashing things with sledgehammers certainly helped the troubled youth to blow off steam, far away from the city’s worries. But through all the hustle and bustle, Seth was convinced that there were more small treasures waiting to be found
Waiting For Reinforcements
The Historic Place
So, what happened to the mysterious wallets? Well, Seth had big plans for them. He established the Centralia Historical Museum, where the wallets took a prized position. He advertised the center as a place where anyone that is passionate about the past and learning more about it can come. In the end, the moral of this story is that you can never know what wonders are hiding in places that you would least expect them to.
The Historic Place