HANNIBAL, Mo. - A heartfelt collection of World War II love letters, recently discovered in a Missouri thrift store donation, will soon be reunited with a beloved family member.

The unusual, yet charming donation recently came into the hands of The Salvation Army Family Store in Hannibal, Missouri. It included a series of love letters written by soldier Chester McMeen to his wife, Alma Bernice Modglin, between 1944 and 1945 while he served overseas.

On Nov. 4, The Salvation Amy announced an ambitious search effort to find close relatives of the couple who exchanged letters. On Thursday evening, the search culminated with a phone call from the couple's son.

Plans are now in the works to return to Chester and Alma's letters to their son, who lives in Carbondale, Illinois, according Megan Duncan, who originally wrote of the thrift store discovery and The Salvation Army's quest to find rightful family members.

"He doesn't know exactly how they ended up in the donation or anything," said Duncan in a phone call Friday with FOX 2. "I think he was just as shocked [as those who found the letters]. I don't think he knew about the letters. It was very exciting. I'll be very excited for him to read them."

Duncan, from her understanding, says The Salvation Army thrift store in Hannibal received the letters in a pile of donations with other items earlier this year, and that the donor did not identify themselves or provide any details about the items at the time of the donations.

"[Thrift store workers] were like, 'What is this?' And they looked into it and saw a husband was writing letters to his wife during the war," said Duncan. "They were like 'Oh my, this is precious. We need to do something special with them.' It's awesome that they recognized that those letters were precious and treated as such."

Some time later, Duncan learned of the letters and wanted to help The Salvation Army locate a close family member. Her research led her to the Jackson County Historical Society, where she connected with an employee who was coincidentally a former classmate of the couple's son.

From there, the employee was able to get in contact with other classmates who knew the couple's son and told him of the letters while he was out of town in Tennessee. The son, whose identity is being withheld at the moment, then enjoyed a surprise phone call with Duncan on Thursday.

"It was absolutely the coolest thing, because I felt like when I was reading those letters, I felt a sense of humor [from his father]," said Duncan. "They were such warm, lovely letters from a man to his wife. To talk to his son, it almost felt a little surreal. Like, 'Oh, wow.' This is the result of those wonderful letters. It was really special."

The letters offer a poignant glimpse into Chester and Alma's enduring love and Chester's wartime experience in the Philippines. Chester frequently reassured Alma of his commitment and shared dreams about the future, including the possibility of starting a family upon his return.

After the war, Chester returned home and built a family with three children in southern Illinois. He and Alma spent nearly 70 years married before they both passed away. The letters represent promises of the life Chester wanted to lead after the war.

"I've read every letter. I've enjoyed getting to know his mom and dad through them. They were wonderful people," said Duncan.

The Salvation Army says plans are underway to meet the son and deliver the letters to him in person. Organizers are trying to decide if that will be in Carbondale, Hannibal or somewhere in between.

"It's such a good ending here," said Duncan.

In light of this story, Duncan encourages people to double-check what they intend to donate before they pass on their possessions and use community resources if they stumble across possessions similar to love letters to find rightful owners.