Photos, letters found during arrest returned to family after social media search
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, but Cheryl Ashmore is nearly speechless as she holds pictures of her family.
"Oh my gosh," she said, thumbing through a stack of black and white photos as well as old handwritten postcards and letters. "Wow, these are so cool."
Some of the images date back to the early 1900s, showing her relatives on the old family farm that once stood where Denver International Airport's Terminal A is now.
"Oh my goodness, it survived all these years. This was 1934," Cheryl said describing some of the worn photos. "That's my grandpa."
But the last place Cheryl ever thought she'd see the precious memories is in an evidence bag.
"Kinda creepy because you don't know how they got there," she told CBS News Colorado's Kelly Werthmann.
Wheat Ridge police found the old photos and letters after arresting a man about six months ago. It was clear the items didn't belong to him, explained Wheat Ridge Police Department's public information officer Joanna Small, but police had few clues to determine whose cherished family history it was.
"We wanted to reunite the photos with the rightful owner if we could," Joanna said.
And that's where social media can come in handy. Joanna posted a few pictures of the mystery photos on the department's Facebook page and it was quickly shared by thousands. Eventually, the post reached Cheryl.
"My friends Kathy and Laurie saw them on Nextdoor and Facebook and told me. It's overwhelming. I'm trying not to cry… because I'm an ugly crier," Cheryl said with a laugh.
No ugly tears, instead a beautiful moment of an unexpected reunion.
"To get something back you didn't realize was gone," Cheryl said. "I'm just overwhelmed that I have property back that is my family's property"
In some cases of theft, items don't get returned to their rightful owner. But thanks to help from the community, the Wheat Ridge Police Department is happy to see the irreplaceable memories back with the Ashmore family.
"The moment someone is reunited with something that's valuable to them is pretty priceless," Joanna said.
It's a moment Cheryl will cherish forever, as she left the Wheat Ridge police station with a brown bag full of photos and a heart full of gratitude.
"This is not replaceable, so this is really exciting to have all of this," Cheryl said of the recovered family treasures. "It's great. It's just really, really great."
So how did the pictures end up in the wrong hands? That part is still a bit of a mystery, but Cheryl believes someone stole a box while she was moving — around the same time the alleged thief was arrested. Regardless, Cheryl is incredibly happy to have the items back and plans to put them away in a safe space.