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Cleaning out the attic of a deceased loved one will often yield long-lost treasures. But for Ellen Murphy, the attic of her childhood home produced a mystery as well: A decrepit cardboard portfolio containing five charcoal sketches. All were of women. All dated back to October 1947. All were made by her mother, Mary Betty Keegan Murphy 鈥�48, an art major. And none of them had a name.

Murphy recognized only one, an aunt on her father鈥檚 side. Who were the others?

鈥淚t was a complete mystery,鈥� recalls Murphy, who resides in Mission Hills, Kansas. 鈥淏ut I grew up as a Nancy Drew wannabe, so this was right up my alley.鈥�

The next couple of months turned into a scavenger hunt to find the women鈥檚 families in the hopes of offering them the artwork. Murphy asked a sister to scour her mother鈥檚 Nazareth yearbook for matches. She recruited several staff members at Nazareth to track down married surnames. She searched online obituaries (鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe how many versions of Margaret, Ellen, Katie, and Claire there are in obituaries鈥�), even wedding announcements. Her hunt ultimately led her to families in Texas and Kansas, New York and Florida.

It turned out all the women in the sketches were Nazareth grads, and four of the five women had since passed away: Mary Hope Morsch 鈥�48 from Florida. Betty White Whalen 鈥�48 from New York. Georgia Conner Youngblood 鈥�48 from Texas. Ellen Kiley Keough 鈥�51 from Kansas.

Murphy鈥檚 aunt, Elizabeth Ann (Lib) Murphy 鈥�48, lives in North Carolina. Lib had always been unhappy about her brother鈥檚 marriage to Mary Betty, despite having been the one to introduce them, and Murphy was unsure how her aunt would react to the artwork鈥檚 discovery. But Lib鈥檚 long antipathy softened when she learned about the sketch, and she told Murphy she loved having the beautiful piece.

Receiving Mary Betty鈥檚 artwork also meant a great deal to Georgia鈥檚 son Dennis Youngblood, who was identified with help from a former classmate. When Murphy reached him by phone, he 鈥渨as just really overcome and very emotional,鈥� she says. Last year for Christmas, he shared the portrait with the rest of his siblings by making and framing copies of it as gifts for each of them.

Mary Betty worked as an occupational therapist for years while raising seven daughters, and Murphy often wonders what her mother鈥檚 life would have been like had she pursued her art further, had she not tucked away these sketches and other pieces to be forgotten.

鈥淚f I had known these were in the attic, I would鈥檝e taken them out a long time ago,鈥� she says. 鈥淪he would鈥檝e loved nothing more than to reach out to these people.鈥� Nearly 70 years after they were created, Mary Betty鈥檚 sketches reached out and made those connections for her, and the families she touched with them remain grateful.

Robin L. Flanigan is a freelance writer in Rochester, New York.