A New York woman says her 14-year-old son was walking along a beach in Atlantic Highlands the day after Hurricane Sandy devastated the region and found 57 World War II-era love letters.

The letters chronicled the love affair of Dorothy Fallon and Lynn Farnham. They spanned from 1942 until the week before they were married in 1948.

“I wanted to return them to whoever they belonged to,” Kathleen Chaney told WNBC-TV. “They’re beautiful. She obviously adored him.”

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After visiting the return address in Rumson, N.J., posting an ad on Craigslist and researching at findagrave.com, Chaney discovered that Lynn Farnham had died in 1991 but she still had a niece — 91-year-old Dorothy Fallon Farnham — in Asbury Park, N.J.

Chaney promised to return the letters but refused an offer of reward money.

“I feel like Dorothy is my aunt as well,” she said.

Watch this video from WNBC-TV, broadcast Nov. 15, 2012.

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View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.