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Special delivery: DeKalb letter finally reaches family member after 80 years

DeKalb letter reaches family member after 80 years
DeKalb letter reaches family member after 80 years 00:46

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Illinois family rediscovered their history after a 1943 letter resurfaced in Dekalb.

On December 18, the letter addressed to Mr. and Mrs. George re-emerged at the Dekalb post office.

One of the employees tracked down surviving members of the George family.

They found Jeanette George, the daughter of the couple the letter was addressed to.

One of her first cousins was sending condolences to her parents, who had recently lost their daughter to cystic fibrosis.

"It just sort of put me in touch with my parents' grief and the losses my family went through before I was even born," George said.

The postal employee who found the letter speculates that it probably got lost because it had a street name but no house number.

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