A woman dubbed the 'heirloom hunter' has revealed her latest find - a letter from the ex-wife of an alleged murder victim to his supposed killer, who she claims faked his death and fled to Scotland after the attack.
Chelsey Brown, 28, from New York, US, finds diaries, letters, and family heirlooms and reunites them with the descendants of those who have passed.
Recently, she came across some shocking letters at a flea market dating back to 1901, revealing information about a criminal.
What happened next was shocking, and Chelsey was quick to share it all on TikTok, where the post racked up 24,000 views.
In the clip, she says: "I'm trying to solve a crime that happened over 100 years ago.
"These letters prove that a criminal from 1900, who was recorded as dead, actually faked his death and fled to Scotland.
"These letters revolve around a shooting that happened in 1901.
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article29117538.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_PAY-Woman-discovers-shocking-letter-revealing-truth-of-1900s-murder-including-man-faking-death.jpg)
"A gang and this specific criminal that we're talking about, his name was James, or at least that was one of his aliases.
"This gang actually robbed a post office, and one of the workers in the post office, who was stationed there overnight, ended up shooting a bunch of members in the gang."
She continues: "One of the gang members ends up dying, and when the police ID him, they ID him as this James.
"So he was proclaimed as deceased. However, these letters from James' ex-wife tell a very different story, in that he didn't die in the shooting - but instead a few days later, actually fled to Scotland.
"The most interesting piece of this puzzle is that I have a letter from 1901 from a reverend.
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article29117536.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/1_PAY-Woman-discovers-shocking-letter-revealing-truth-of-1900s-murder-including-man-faking-death.jpg)
"This local reverend received a letter from James, pretending to be the shooter from the post office, asking for a description of the man who died, who he killed.
"Now why would James want a description of the deceased when he was the 'deceased'? It's a piece of the puzzle that I'm still trying to figure out.
"This specific man had five different aliases, so now I'm trying to trace his journey back to Scotland and I want to find his descendants, or if not his descendants, then just trace what happened to him."
She finishes the video by saying she will hopefully have some more news to update her followers on, soon.
"James had multiple aliases because of being in the gang in 1900," Chelsey said.
"I'm still trying to figure out why he was asking for the deceased description and I'm attempting to trace descendants in Scotland.
"I love researching these artefacts because I find the most incredible stories behind them.
"It's like I'm constantly trying to solve mysteries on a daily basis and I can't get enough of it."
Her TikTok followers are just as invested as she is.
One user added: "This some Peaky Blinders Ish." [sic]
"Best guess, he wanted to take the decedent's identity," someone else said.
One person added: "Maybe he wanted to know which one of the gang members actually died."
Someone else commented: "Wow sounds amazing pls give us every little piece."
Another said: "Umm I'm immediately following you this is going to be great."