A woman dubbed the “Heirloom Hunter” has revealed her latest shocking find – a 1929 photograph of a woman whose ex-lover was a killer who plotted her death.
Chelsey Brown, 28, from New York, finds diaries, letters, and family heirlooms and reunites them with the descendants of those behind them.
Recently, she came across a picture of a woman taken in 1929, showing her wearing a fur coat and hat.
She purchased the image in a New York thrift store and used MyHeritage.com to find out more about the woman, in the hopes of returning the picture to her living ancestors.
But what she uncovered was far more shocking.
“A newspaper article popped up about poison. At first, I thought I was looking at the wrong thing, but then I found countless of records that proved she escaped a murder – by poison,” Chelsey told NeedToKnow.online.
“I was in complete shock when I read the records and newspaper articles. It felt like something from a movie.
“The craziest part about the story is that the man who was going to kill her bought her grave plot as he knew he was going to murder her.
“From research, it seemed the woman broke up with him a few months before he carried out the homicide/suicide.
“It’s devastating that he murdered his two young daughters by poisoning them, but this woman survived to tell the tale.
“From research on MyHeritage.com, she didn’t have children or get married. This is not surprising as to the trauma she must have endured after this happened.
“However, her brother had children and I was able to track one down. I am still waiting for their response. Sometimes it takes a few weeks for someone to see I sent them a message and respond.
“I would love to get this photograph to them so they can have a piece of their aunt.”
Chelsey shared the shocking find in a video on Instagram with her 97,000 followers (@citychicdecor), where the post racked up more than 4,000 likes.
In the clip, she explains that her research showed that the woman had been dating a man who was separated from his wife, with whom he shared two daughters.
In 1929, the woman broke up with him and he became “so distraught” that he killed himself and his two children using poison.
It was later revealed that he had purchased grave plots for himself, his daughters, and the woman in the picture “weeks before”.
It is not known how she was able to escape.
One user said: “Wow this is so wild! I hope you found that niece!”
“So fascinating,” another viewer commented.
Someone else said: “That’s sounds so insane!!”
“Hooked and here for the stories,” added another user.
Someone else commented: “I love murder mysteries, now I’m keeping an eye on your page for more!”
“Oh wow what a story,” agreed another follower.
Chelsey added: “I love finding artifacts with exhilarating stories behind them like this one. There’s obviously way more to this story that hasn’t been uncovered yet, and that’s the beauty of heirloom hunting.
“It’s all about solving mysteries. It just proves that the simplest of objects, like a photograph, can have the most incredible story behind it.”
