Christchurch plea to help find Joshua Mitchell who has been sending Christmas card to Moebus family in Fort Worth, Texas, for 10 years

It’s a Christmas mystery which has been ongoing for 10 years – and a family from Texas, USA, is hoping Christchurch residents can solve it.

Not long after Carrie and Douglas Moebus and their children moved into their house in Fort Worth in 2011, a scribbled Christmas card from a UK sender dropped into their post.

The couple did not recognise the addressee, a ‘Mrs & Mr Wynne’, nor did they know the sender, who signed the card ‘Joshua Mitchell’.

The following year, another arrived, and for the next decade the tradition has been maintained, the penmanship slightly improving each time.

“The handwriting has got better over the years so I’m assuming this is being sent by a child,” she said.

Carrie (54) pestered the neighbours but none had heard of the Wynnes, and neither had their home’s previous occupant, who had built the house.

In 2020 the mum-of-five started reaching out on social media to try to find both Joshua and the Wynnes.

“I have one child who’s posted the mystery on Reddit and one who’s done a social media dive, they’re all invested,” Carrie told the A&T.

“We even have people in the neighborhood who do a deep dive search every year to help find the people who it’s addressed to, the Wynnes.

“It’s a weird Christmas mystery.”

After more fruitless searches, she spotted a Christchurch postmark on one of the envelopes, and is now appealing to town residents to help find the festive sender.

“It’s a lovely card, I just wish I could connect the sender and the receiver.”

But despite not being the card’s intended recipients, the family still displays it with their more accurately addressed Christmas correspondence.

“I figure someone took the time to write this card out by hand and mail it across the globe, and that deserves to be seen,” Carrie said.

And while she is desperate for the cards to find their rightful home, Carrie says she will miss them if the mystery is solved.

“I would miss seeing that card during the holidays,”

“I’m still a big Christmas card person, and usually still send out cards every year.

“Someday I hope to have a return address so I can send a Christmas card to Joshua.”

If you can shed some light on sender Joshua Mitchell or the Wynnes, email Carrie on findjoshmitchell@gmail.com