Message In A Bottle Washes Up On Florida Beach After 37 Years

A message in a bottle has returned to its owner nearly four decades after he threw the memento into the ocean in Florida, according to WLKY.

Troy Heller was only 10 years old when he chucked the glass Pepsi bottle into the water during a trip to Vero Beach in 1985. After Hurricane Nicole swept through the Sunshine State back in late September, the bottle reportedly washed ashore in Sebastian on November 13.

Two teachers who were cleaning up the beach after the storm actually found the decades-old bottle and handed it off to Katie and Annie Carrmax and their children, Kylie and Emmy, according to the family. The paper had Heller's name, his address in Louisville, Kentucky, his phone number, and this message: "Who ever finds this, call me, or write to me."

“We were happy and the message had Troy’s phone number and house address and it was really exciting,” Kylie Carrmax explained. The family used the letter and Google to find out Heller's contact information. They ended up texting him, who responded hours later.

“I was absolutely shocked. I couldn’t believe it,” Heller told reporters. “For them to actually take the time to seek me out and find it. I mean, it’s brought me so much joy and [my] family so much joy. It is just been amazing.”

After 37 years, the Kentucky man was reunited with the original letter after the Carrmax family mailed it to him. He ended up hanging it on the wall of his home.

“It’s something you never thought would happen,” Heller told WLKY. “I thought I’d just throw it out in the ocean and just see where it went, you know? It’s just amazing that it finally found its way back.”

You can read more about this amazing story on the news station's website.