A puzzling mystery: Old photographs found inside Michigan thrift store puzzle box

GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, Mich. (WPBN/WGTU) — A Michigan woman, who happens to be a master puzzle solver, opened a box this week that has her stumped.

She didn't find puzzle pieces inside; she found a surprise that sparked a mission.

"I do about (one) 1000-piece a week, less than a week, so it's expensive," Heidi said.

When you're cranking out a puzzle a week, you find ways to save.

"I go to thrift shops and usually grab most of what they have if they're 1000-piece and then take them home and, usually, it's hit, miss, sometimes there's a piece missing," Heidi said. "But you know, $3 or $4, you get a pretty decent puzzle."

But about a week ago at the Goodwill in Williamsburg, she didn't get a "pretty decent puzzle"–she got a surprise. Inside the puzzle box were several decades-old photo slides.

"First of all, I was like 'Oh bummer, I really wanted to do this puzzle," Heidi said. "But then I was like 'This is something for someone.'"

She's on a mission to return the photos to their rightful owner.

"There's somebody out there that is missing these pictures and would like them back," Heidi said.

She's gone through them, one-by-one, looking for clues.

"I'm just hoping somebody will see one of the pictures and say 'That is me as a baby' or 'That was my uncle,'" Heidi said.

She is hoping someone's sees them and realizes that it wasn't a puzzle in the box they donated, but rather a part of their past, from a time when a picture was truly worth more than a thousand words.

A lot of people have memories that, you know, they just keep up in their mind," Heidi said. "And you know, they don't have the albums or the pictures nowadays. Pictures a dime a dozen. But back then, not so much."

Puzzles don't last very long at this Goodwill store, so it was probably donated recently. Heidi has posted the pictures on Facebook and they have been shared hundreds of times.