ST. CLOUD -- An old historic photo, collecting dust inside a storage closet, is now an incredible find.

Stearns History Museum Curator Eric Cheever is working on a World War I exhibit at the museum, when he came across a gold star photo at the Paynesville History Museum.

"A photo with a gold star is pretty remarkable. You don't find many of them."

The meaning behind a gold star shows the solider died in service.

After doing some research Cheever learned the man in the photo was Frank Zapf, who grew up in St. Cloud.

However, the discovery became bigger news when they got a surprise visit from a Wisconsin couple Monday.

"They started to drop some things off, and opening books up and inside a photo album they brought was the same photo. It was his family photo album."

Cheever says the couple had no idea the museum had the photo of Frank and their stop at the museum was random.

He adds they are currently working on gather more information on the piece to learn more about Zapf's past.

You'll be able to see the photo as well as the entire World War I exhibit when it opens this fall.

(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
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