About half a mile from the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle - National Shrine is a room containing several relics.

They can seem ordinary if you don't know what you're looking for.

“They are all in bad shape now, we have them all with numbers so that we know what we're getting and what we have,” Basilica Director Father Jorge Gomez said.

For Father Gomez, the items are a sacred part of history.

The items are part of the original Our Lady of San Juan del Valle Shrine, which was destroyed by a fire that was caused when a plane deliberately crashed into it on Oct. 23, 1970.

RELATED STORY: Reflections of the San Juan Shrine Plane Crash: Witnesses describe devastating plane crash

Father Gomez said that after the fire, several items from the shrine were put together in a pile that was moved off the grounds. 

Several items were lost in the process, Father Gomez said. 

“People began to grab whatever they could and they took it home,” Gomez said. “I think they were just trying to grasp at something from the old shrine so they could have a relic or something to remember the place.”

Now, 55 years later, the Basilica is still searching for any missing relics. 

Collected relics include the burned torso of the body of Christ, which was found in a woman's garage, and a chalice purchased for $2 at a garage sale.

Other items that the Basilica has collected include pieces of the plane that flew into the Shrine.

READ MORE: Our Lady of San Juan Del Valle statue untouched by devastating 1970 fire

Father Gomez said the pieces were kept as symbols of faith and resilience.

“I think our new generations don't know what happened so it's important for us to let them know what really happened so they can start to see the wonder of God when he wants to preserve a sacred thing, a sacred object,” Father Gomez said. “We want to put it in the museum so that people can look at what we have.”

The church says the search for the relics will continue for a long time. Father Gomez said he doesn't know how many items were taken, and they could be anywhere in the Rio Grande Valley.

For more information, or to turn in a relic, call 965-787-0033.

More information is available online.

This week, Channel 5 News is taking a look at the 55th anniversary of the plane crash as part of our special report, Reflections of the San Juan Shrine Plane Crash.

Watch the video above for the full story.