The case of the missing stamps has been solved ... except the rightful owner was never aware they were missing.
Dunedin man Dharama Sena contacted the Otago Daily Times earlier this week about two boxes filled with postcard covers, stamps, letters and envelopes which he had found while unpacking belongings at his house in December.
He had no idea where they had come from and the only clue was that some of the letters were addressed to Doreen MacKenzie, of Napier.
After further inquiries, the ODT was able to locate Mrs MacKenzie's daughter Chris Jamieson at Merrivale, near Otautau.
Mrs Jamieson said it was ''wonderful'' to recover the possessions of her mother, although she was not aware they were missing.
Mrs MacKenzie died last February and it was ''really nice to get something of hers back'', Mrs Jamieson said.
She could not understand how the boxes came to be in Mr Sena's possession and was ''quite intrigued'' to see what they contained.
Mr Sena said he was posting the boxes to Mrs Jamieson and he was ''very, very pleased'' to have tracked her down.
''It's so much relief as a human being to be able to relocate the rightful owners of this stuff,'' he said.
The boxes would be sent with a tracking number, so he could ensure they ended up in the right location this time, he said.
''For me and my family holding on to something priceless and looking for the rightful owners has been really crazy and thank God we did the right thing.''
Mrs Jamieson could not thank Mr Sena enough.
''We were really grateful that he had been so good at following up on it and with mum passing away it's quite special, really,'' she said.
