A Batch Of Old Letters Discovered In An Attic Are Connected To Centuries-Old Bank Mystery
A Batch Of Old Letters Discovered In An Attic Are Connected To Centuries-Old Bank Mystery
When a 10-year-old girl moved into a new home with her family in 1975 in Key West, Florida, she couldn't have imagined the discovery she'd make: handwritten letters that detail one of the state's largest financial crimes, written by either a very unlucky criminal—or a mastermind who got away with it all. Read on to discover what happened when Asia Palomba rediscovered the same letters that her mother, Stephanie Palomba, had found in her attic in 1975.
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The House
10-year-old Stephanie Palomba's memory of her childhood home in Key West is somewhat faded. Still, she remembers that the house at 616 Caroline Street was a two-story, dilapidated "fixer-upper " that stood proudly between two palm trees.
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A Move-In Day Discovery
Stephanie and her family had been in the house for only a few hours, sorting through various bits of broken furniture, dirt, and dust that littered the new family home, when she discovered a small box tucked away in the corner of the attic.
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The Letters
Upon opening this box, Stephanie uncovered 20 handwritten letters dated between 1913 and 1915. The handwriting was messy cursive, and Stephanie (too young to decipher) gave the letters to her father, who tucked them away, probably to look at later. He never did, and neither did her mother. Nevertheless, the letters followed the family when they moved to Italy, shoved inside a plastic bag in a cardboard box.
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Almost 40 Years Later
Nearly 40 years after the letters were first discovered in the attic, Stephanie Palomba was sorting through her then-deceased father's items. She rediscovered the letters in the same small plastic bag: "They were part of my memories of being there as a little girl, and I knew they were going to be of some historical significance".
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