The mystery of an In-N-Out burger that mysteriously appeared on a Queens street over the weekend, despite the nearest restaurant being over 1,500 miles away, has finally been solved.
Lincoln Boehm, 31, posted a picture of the perfectly wrapped 'Double Double' burger after discovering it near the Jamaica Long Island Rail Road station on Saturday.
Now, the New Yorker has revealed that the burger belonged to Helen Vivas, 16, who had dropped it while running to catch the bus after a red-eye flight.
Helen attends the Veritas Academy in Flushing and told Boehm that she had picked up the burger in Encinitas,on July 19, before flying 2,429 miles back to New York.
Explaining the perfect condition of the burger, she revealed that she had told the restaurant she was about to board a flight and wanted to know how she could preserve her food.
So, she ordered two double-doubles without sauce, and two single cheeseburgers, with the vegetables packed in separate bags.
On the plane, she ate one of the double-doubles — and kept the bag containing the other sandwiches on her lap for the entire flight.
Helen landed at JFK airport Saturday at 5.27am and took the AirTrain to the Jamaica station in order to catch the Q44 bus home.
It was here that she saw the bus about to leave, forcing her to run to catch it.
As she did, the bag burst open at the bottom, sending the food flying.
Helen able to catch two of the three burgers before they hit the ground but she had to leave a double-double behind.
Boehm found the burger around an hour later.
To prove the burger belonged to her, Helen sent Boehm screenshots from her Instagram story of the In-N-Out restaurant she went to, her receipt for the meal and her flight information.
In a first-person essay on Vice, Boehm said: 'Helen was sincere, and from the jump I knew this person may hold the answers I've spent the last four days searching for.'
Boehm, a lifelong In-N-Out fan, said he had been walking to McDonald's with his wife when they saw the perfectly preserved burger.
He posted about the burger on his Instagram account and the story was widely shared, with thousands commenting on the mystery.
Boehm was sent dozens of messages from fans with theories about the case and now plans to meet Helen.
He added: 'My wife and I have invited Helen and her family over to our apartment for a barbecue.
'We'll probably have hot dogs and chicken.'
In-N-Out's nearest restaurant is in Dallas, Texas - nearly 1,600 miles from where the burger was found.