Lot 1396: FOOTLOCKER AND 8TH AIR FORCE GROUP OF B17 NAVIGATOR LT ELVIN GERARD.

[Ange]

The strangest thing happened. I was searching the internet for my Grandfather's obituary yesterday and an auction site was in the search results with the above title. After opening it up, I was shocked to see my grandfather's footlocker was auctioned off in December 2019, just 8 months after he passed. We have no idea how this auction company got a hold of his old footlocker. However, after reading the description, there was a diary in the footlocker where my grandfather wrote about his missions. I have reached out to the auction company and they are trying to give my contact information to the buyer. I would give just about anything to read what is in that diary. So.... Here I am grasping at straws! Did anyone in this group buy this footlocker or know who did? All I want is copies of the diary and anything else my grandfather would have wrote. This would be the most amazing gift I could ever receive!

[manayunkman]

I bet someone local in PA got it. 

[Marshallj]

Go to the county court records of the county where he died. You should be able to see who the executor of the estate was. That is most likely who sold grandpa’s stuff to the auction house. 

[Big Iron]

Wow, what a disappointing thing to find. I hope you have luck tracking down the current owner. My mom found my great-grandfather's sea diary from WWI, pretty neat to read the entries.