Message in a Bottle Sent by Young Girl Is Found — 35 Years Later

How far did it go?

A woman found a message in a bottle, 35 years after it began its journey.

Shay Shanyfield, of Alabama, was out looking for driftwood along the Coosa River Bank when she spotted a glass soda bottle. She later used a hammer to crack open the dirty bottle and discovered a rolled-up note inside.

“It was a mystery I wanted to solve,” Shanyfield said.

Inside was a note, which read:  "Today October 14, 1982, the third grade class at Eura Brown School is sending a bottle message."

The note was signed by a girl named Julie Watson.

Shanyfield decided to post the note to Facebook. Before she knew it, a friend of a friend contacted her, saying she knew a Julie Watson who’d be around the right age to have sent the letter, and she was right.

"I can't believe I'm holding the letter," Watson said as Inside Edition caught up with her. 

But it wasn't exactly an epic journey for the bottle. It floated just five miles away and sat for 35 years until it was discovered by Shanyfield.

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