Daughter Receives Father's Message In A Bottle 5 Decades After He Sent It Out To Sea

October 26, 2016

A message in a bottle sent out to sea by a New Hampshire man more than five decades ago was found 1,500 miles away and has been returned to his daughter.

message in a bottle found 5 decades later returned to family

The long lost message was discovered by Clint Buffington of Utah while he was vacationing in the Turks and Caicos.

Buffington says he found a Coke bottle half-buried in the sand that "looked like it had been there since the beginning of time." The note inside the bottle said, "Return to 419 Ocean Blvd. and receive a reward of $150 from Tina, owner of the Beachcomber."

The Beachcomber was a Hampton motel owned by the now-deceased parents of Paula Pierce in 1960. Pierce’s father had written the note as a joke and cast it into the Atlantic Ocean.

Buffington flew to New Hampshire to deliver the message to Pierce.

"And it just hit me, it was my father's writing. And I was shocked," Pierce said.

She insisted on living up to her father's promise, giving Buffington that reward. But the biggest reward is the message in a bottle finding its way back home.

"The significance of the message in the bottle was not lost on him. It took him to find it, and it took him to come across the country and bring it to me," Pierce said.


feel good videoStray Dog Becomes the Star of a Wrestling Match

feel good stories‘Cat Distribution System’ Strikes at Chicago Airport, Leading Man Who Missed Flight to Fly Home With Kitten

feel good storiesDad Kept a Handmade Paper Tie His Daughter Made at Age 5 for a Very Special Moment

feel good storiesThe Neighbors Who Found the Dog Had Never Met the Owner. They Were on the Same Alert List

feel good videoStrangers Push a Train to Rescue Trapped Man

feel good videoHigh School Band Student Goes Viral With Incredible 'Thunderstruck' Xylophone Performance

feel good videoAt 90 Years Old, James Thomas Completed His 43rd NYC Marathon, His Last One

feel good videoHe Found a Baby in a Phone Booth. Years Later, She Found Him and Calls Him Dad

feel good videoHe Was Paralyzed at 15. Then He Found a Love That Changed His Life