A water tower for the town is seen destroyed in the aftermath of a tornado at sunrise in Mayfield, Kentucky, U.S. December 13, 2021. Picture taken with a drone
(Picture: REUTERS)An Indiana woman discovered an old photo of an unknown woman and a baby from 1942 on her windshield - after a devastating tornado hit Kentucky, over 160 miles away.
Katie Posten took to Twitter to share the image of Gertie Swatzell and JD Swatzell she found on her car in New Albany, Indiana, in the hopes that someone online would be able to help her return the photo to its rightful owners.
Posten shared that she believed the photo was probably lost after tornadoes struck at least six states in the midwest on Friday night.
“Walked out to my car in New Albany, IN and found this picture stuck to the window. Undoubtedly from a home that was struck by the tornado that ripped through Kentucky last night. Hoping to find its owners. It looks like it reads - Gertie Swatzell and JD Swatzell 1942 - pls RT,” she wrote.
Walked out to my car in New Albany, IN and found this picture stuck to the window. Undoubtedly from a home that was struck by the tornado that ripped through Kentucky last night. Hoping to find its owners. It looks like it reads - Gertie Swatzell and JD Swatzell 1942 - pls RT pic.twitter.com/juoCYNAS3o
— Katie Posten (@katieposten) December 11, 2021
In a follow-up tweet, she shared that the image came from Dawson Springs, Kentucky. The town was just one of the many in the area where catastrophe struck after a storm resulted in over 30 tornadoes across the midwest.
The replies to her tweet have been people overwhelmingly stunned that the single photograph made it so far from home. But perhaps more interesting is that dozens posted that they, too, had found personal artifacts seemingly lost from the tornado.
I just found this photo while walking my dogs in Louisville, Kentucky. I wonder if it could be a similar situation? pic.twitter.com/hbetBzWiC1
— Shoeless Bo Jackson (@LouisvilleLuck) December 11, 2021
@MarcWeinbergWX Found these while picking up limbs at mom’s house in Brandenburg pic.twitter.com/YedjwWmIGO
— Danny Lindsey (@lindsey_danny) December 13, 2021
A little more than two hours after posting, however, Posten was able to get in touch with the family the image belonged to.
“UPDATE: the photo belongs to the Swatzell family from Dawson Springs, KY, and I’ve been connected with a family member. Making a plan for later this week to return it,” she wrote.
This is the town where the photo came from. Absolutely devastating. https://t.co/ztk1iQTR24
— Katie Posten (@katieposten) December 11, 2021
Speaking to Insider, Posten shared that she knew sharing the photo on social media would be the best way to reach the family and that she plans to reconnect with the Swatzells later this week to personally give the photo to them.
"I don't want to mail it because I don't want to chance it getting lost again. If it's made it all this way, I would love to just put it in someone in the family's hand so that they can make sure that it's well taken care of," Posten said.
