$50,000 Reward For Missing FDC Collection?

I wonder if this "Rosebud!" moment was prompted by a cover or two coming onto the market addressed to young Mr. Hoelscher which gives him hope it can still be recovered. But wow.

I have specific stamps from my past that I would pay way above market to re-own (ETA: Nowhere near $50k. Maybe $1k for a $500 stamp.), and I am not at all successful. Considering the value of a typical 9 year old's FDC collection from the 1960's, and what it would be worth today, I would bet this whole thing is all about sentimentality. On the other hand, it sounds like many of the covers were addressed to a specific person - perhaps this owner's grandfather/father/whatever and the 9 year old inherited it, combining actual value and the sentimental factor.

If it was really a typical 9 year old's FDC collection from the 1960's, I would suspect that whoever stole it went to the local stamp shop to unload it, was told it was worth close to $0, and it has long ago rotted away to nothing in a landfill.

But what do I know?