Heirloom Lost in Kentucky Tornado Found on Windshield 130 Miles Away, Reunited With Family

In the aftermath of tornadoes ripping through Kentucky on Friday, an untouched family heirloom lost in the midst of it was discovered 130 miles away in Indiana. Thanks to the power of social media, it's on its way home.

Katie Posten discovered an almost 80-year-old family photo stuck to her car window—a surprising enough find, let alone the realization it had made its way from a home impacted by the tornadoes.

On Friday, December 10, tornadoes tore through the state of Kentucky, with a current death toll of at least 80 and destroying homes and businesses.

Initially, Posten had suspected it was a note of sorts tucked onto her car: "Peeled it off the car. It was soaking wet and turned it over and immediately thought 'oh my goodness'," she told WTHR.

"I was really emotional and overwhelmed when I originally found the photo because it was like knowing almost instantly this had to have come from someone's home that had been destroyed."

The photo featured a woman holding a child and was dated on the back to 1942, with the names Gertie Swatzell and JD Swatzell written.

As if by magic, the photo was the only thing to make its way to Posten's home—"no tree limbs, no shingles, nothing like that," she told CNN. "It's pretty remarkable."

Posten took to social media in an attempt to reunite the lost image with its family. "This is a treasure. This is a piece of treasure that needs to be returned and regardless of what the outcome was for that family overnight, someone needs this back, and the internet loves to solve mysteries. So, I'm going to let the internet do what the internet does," she told WTHR.

She took to both Twitter and Facebook, writing: "Walked out to my car in New Albany, IN and found this picture stuck to the window. Undoubtedly from a home that was struck by the tornado that ripped through Kentucky last night. Hoping to find its owners. It looks like it reads, Gertie Swatzell and JD Swatzell 1942, pls RT."

It was Facebook that did the trick. After taking a leap of faith and tagging people she knew with the same surname, Posten was connected with Cole Swatzell—the great-grandson of the woman in the image.

Swatzell is from Dawson Springs, Kentucky, a small town which was hit hard by the tornados. Reports suggest a current death toll of 12, with coroner Dennis Mayfield expecting it to increase.

"It's like small potatoes given just the logistics of what they're having to deal with," Posten said. "He [Cole] was grateful that we found them and pretty amazed that it traveled that far and stayed intact."

Swatzell and Posten are planning to meet later in the week to return the photo, while the Swatzell family attempts to figure out exactly which household it belonged to.