DOWNINGTOWN---A family's Bible that was missing for decades is back at home in Pennsylvania.
A news station in North Carolina did a story about a woman finding the century-old Bible, which launched a search to find out who it belonged to.
Through help across the country, she found the owner, and sought Newswatch 16's help getting it back to where it belonged.
"We spent a lot of years looking for it," said Jeanne Dunn as she opened a box containing the century old bible. "And I know my husband always said I wish we could find that. I wish we could find that."
The Bible was lost back in the mid-1900s. After all those years, the mystery of the missing bible is solved. And Dunn had tears in her eyes as she opened the bible for the first time.
"Oh, this is amazing," she said as she got her first look.
An inscription says the Bible belonged to Jeanne Dunn's mother-in-law Carolyn. It was a gift from her husband William, but the family believes Carolyn mistakenly gave it away with other old books.
"No one knew where it went to, no one knew what happened to it," said Dunn. "My mother-in-law thought she gave it to one of the daughters and she said no she didn't. So nobody knew where it was."
That's until Kaitlyn Ducote found it in a back room at work in North Carolina.
She went on the news, hoping to find the owner. All she had to go on was a list of family births and deaths written inside.
"It's family history, It's not just history," said Ducote. "I just think that's really special. I'm going to try until I find someone."
She got help in Alabama. After the story aired on Newswatch 16's sister station there, a viewer went to work searching genealogy websites.
"As soon as the news program was over, I went right to the computer to start looking for it," said Wanda Capps in Huntsville, Alabama.
She found Jeanne Dunn in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.
Inside the bible, Dunn found inscriptions marking births of her husband and his many brothers and sisters.
They are all gone. She is the last of a generation, receiving the Bible, and a note inside from the woman who found it.
"I have saved this bible for almost three years, hoping one day I would find the owners.. I can't tell you how excited I am that this day has finally come," said the note from Ducote to Dunn.
Newswatch 16 delivered the Bible 5 years to the day Dunn's husband died which made it all extra special.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I know if my husband were here he'd say the same thing," said Dunn. "I've never heard of anyone doing something so wonderful for strangers, and it's amazing, it's very amazing."
Jeanne Dunn looks forward to sharing the bible with her children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews who will get a little look into the Dunn family history.