She’s a thrift store detective of sorts — she buys mementos and returns them to their rightful owners, free of charge

Chelsey Brown was at a Manhattan flea market last summer when she saw an old handwritten letter. On a whim, she decided, “I’m just going to buy this item for a dollar, take it home with me, and try to trace it.”

Within half an hour on a genealogy site back at her New York City apartment, she found the descendants of the person to whom the letter was addressed. She reached out to them and offered the long-lost letter, which they enthusiastically accepted.