MYSTERY continues to shroud a mission to uncover the rightful heirs to a "stunning” historical portrait after a social media post "went viral” over the weekend.

The dusty portrait of an unidentified elderly couple has been seen by more than 31,940 people on Facebook after it was rescued from the Stanthorpe rubbish dump by historian Leisa Cearney.

People from around the Southern Downs have tried to recall the elderly couple, some swearing they recognise the man's face while others have attempted match his ear with other portraits.

Ms Cearney said she was "determined” to find living relatives of the smartly-dressed pair.

"As soon as I walked in to the dump it was staring straight at me and I just loved it and I thought "I have to get this back to the family”,” she said.

Having lost all trace of her own great grandparents, Ms Cearney has developed a passion for reuniting others with their family history.

"If it was my grandparents I would be devastated (to find the photo in the dump),” she said.

"I don't have photos of my great grandparents and I would love to find photos of them. It is priceless, it gives you so much more information on your family.”

With the post shared more than 470 times over two days, Ms Cearney was overwhelmed by the response on social media.

"It has just gone crazy,” she said.

Ms Cearney seems to have narrowed the search down to two potential families.

One is Mr and Mrs Bonner, who are believed to have owned the Stanthorpe chemist in the 1940s.

"A lot of people are also saying it could be Mr and Mrs Reid who used to live in Wolfram St in Stanthorpe,” Ms Cearney said.

Despite a lot of dead ends, the search has invigorated memories of old Stanthorpe faces.

"I remember seeing that (picture) at the tip shop. The lady reminds me of someone but I can't think who. Dulcie Hansen maybe?” Nicole Sinai said.

Someone even suggested the man could be a past Mayor of Stanthorpe.

But Ms Cearney said identifying the couple was hard because many who would recognise them may have passed away or do not use social media.

Most of all, people are just wishing the picture would find its rightful home.

"I just love the fact that people are so interested in getting this back to their family - I think it is great that this generation is finally caring about our families,” Ms Cearney said.

"I think people are more sentimental these days.”

If think you can help identify this mysterious couple, please contact Leisa Cearney on 0438189654 or Facebook.