A HEIRLOOM DETECTIVE who discovered an ancient death threat against a family of 12 has undertaken an inquiry to find their forefathers.

Chelsey Brown, a New York-based author and genealogist, published the story on Instagram and TikTok after discovering the unsettling message.

And the 29-year-old said she will try to return the letter to the family’s descendants after researching their identities online.

Chelsey, also known as Citychicdecor, stated in a video to her followers: “I still can’t believe what I just read.

“I recently read a letter that disclosed an 1886 attempted murder – and yes, I do mean murder.

“Of sure, we’ll track down the descendants of the attempted murderer [sic].”

She then read aloud excerpts from the letter, which revealed that on Christmas Day 1886, a lady threatened to kill a man’s wife, do “severe hurt” to his family, or “destroy his house.”

“Basically, a woman threatened to kill a husband, his wife, and his entire family for any reason,” Chelsey explained.

“According to my study, this couple had ten children.”

She has already started looking for the family’s descendants after discovering a connection on the website MyHeritage.

“This is an example of an item I would return to a family, both because it was so long ago and because their successors will most likely find it intriguing,” she added.

Chelsey’s passion in history has been reflected on her famous TikTok channel.

Last year, she narrated the strange story of picking up an old picture book at a flea market and deciding to track out the former owner’s descendants – only to find out they’re her distant cousins.

Chelsey purchased the picture book of summer vacation photos from 1927 in a municipal market.

She requested the aid of her father, a professional genealogist, after trying to locate any familial links to the album, which only contained first names.

They uncovered the family in a 1930s census and determined that the persons in the images are connected to them.