A captivating internet mystery that has endured for years has reached a conclusion.

If you’re not regularly active on platforms like Reddit, you might not be familiar with “Celebrity Number Six,” the mysterious figure depicted on a fabric alongside well-known personalities such as Jessica Alba, Ian Somerhalder, and Orlando Bloom.

Five years ago, Reddit user TontsaH shared images of this fabric within the r/movies subreddit, stating, “I’ve had curtains made of this fabric for over 10 years (possibly since 2008) and I still can’t identify all the movie stars. Hopefully, you can help me recognize them and find the related photos of the celebrities.”

The post included links to an external image hosting site called Imagr, where the user had made labels guessing the identity of each illustration and corresponding photos. With the collective effort of the subreddit, every identity in the eight-person pattern was quickly resolved, except for one.

Designated as “Celebrity Six,” this image portrayed a woman with shoulder-length hair, prominent cheekbones, thick eyebrows, and a captivating supermodel-like expression, leaving many puzzled. Initial guesses in the thread included names like Sienna Miller and River Phoenix, but no source image could be linked.

Shortly after the post’s publication, TontsaH remarked that “Number Six is now the last one to solve!”

Casual observers might have expected that the identity of Number Six would be uncovered shortly, as the other celebrities had been identified quickly, even those requiring some digging through internet and print archives. Instead, the identity of this elusive figure evolved into a part of internet folklore, intriguing both casual users and amateur investigators for five years.

The five-year quest for Number Six

A subreddit solely focused on uncovering Number Six, called r/CelebrityNumberSix, emerged the same year, gathering and compiling information from thousands of users.

This subreddit, which has recently surged to over 44,000 members, provides all the details any fan of obscure media might seek.

The fabric originated from a summer 2009 edition of an Anttila catalog, designed in the pop art style that was trendy in the 2000s and frequently seen across Finland, Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Spain. A fabric supplier named “Latky Mraz” had been contacted, but without success. There was confusion over whether Number Six was male or female.

Years of investigation led to numerous posts, videos, searches, and recreations, yet no one could provide a definitive answer.

Recently, users StefanMorse and IndigoRoom entered the scene. In a follow-up post detailing their approach to solving this long-standing internet mystery, StefanMorse stated they had extensively edited the famous image of Number Six.

“I essentially altered the fabric image to make it resemble a real person instead of a cartoon,” they explained. “The outcome was still somewhat animated but impressively different,” they noted.

Following that, they leveraged facial recognition software, specifically Pimeyes, to conduct multiple searches with the transformed image. After several attempts, one particular image kept appearing, and it included a name.

IndigoRoom then took the lead in locating the original photograph that matched Number Six, confirming what many on the internet had long wondered: Celebrity Number Six’s identity was Leticia Sarda.

Who is Leticia Sarda?

Now a mother of two, Sarda shared with The Times that she once traveled the world modeling for major brands and that the photograph in question was taken during an editorial shoot for a 2006 edition of a Spanish magazine called Woman. A different image of her wearing a Versace dress also graced the cover of the same edition.

When someone she did not recognize reached out for confirmation about the image being of her, she had no idea that it was from a five-year-long quest led by thousands online.

“[The image] was included in my agency’s portfolio,” she explained. “I didn’t think I had it because I hadn’t checked that book in over a decade, but it turns out I did.”

For further evidence, she posted a photo of herself holding the original picture online, captioned in Spanish, “What a wild week. here I am launching my new account”

Since retiring from modeling in 2009, Sarda was surprised that a nearly 20-year-old editorial would suddenly become the subject of widespread fascination. She mentioned to The Times that people have been recognizing her on the streets and contacting her through various online platforms since the reveal.

Reflecting on her newfound fame, she stated, “I really don’t know how to process this yet. It’s been overwhelming the past few days. So many people have dedicated time and effort to find me. On one hand, it makes me happy, but on the other hand, it worries me. I’m trying to thank them for all their efforts in searching for someone on a piece of fabric.”

And for the subreddit? What lies ahead is uncertain. Perhaps the sleuths who solved this captivating mystery might shift their focus to other internet-famous puzzles.

There are intriguing mysteries like “The Mysterious Song,” which has been suggested by a user. However, that’s a topic for another day.

YSL News has approached Sarda and Reddit users StefanMorse and IndigoRoom for their thoughts.