Read the incredible message in a bottle that washed up on the beach after 32 YEARS, leaving its finder 'in tears'
A cute message in a bottle written by two schoolchildren has washed up on the beach 32 years later.
The torn letter from 1992 left a family in 'tears' after its contents reappeared at the “perfect” time.
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The long-lost message was written by two children Long Island for a school project led by earth science teacher, Richard E Brooks.
Packaged in a green bottle, it was eventually discovered on February 1 in Shinnecock Bay, about 12 miles up the coast, where it had been dropped decades earlier.
The message was scrawled sloppily in pencil and read: “Dear Finder, As part of a 9th grade earth science project, this bottle was thrown into the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island.
“Fill in the details below and send the bottle back to us… Thanks, Shawn and Ben.”
It was dated October 1992.
The bottle found by Adam Tarvis, 32, who lives on the Shinnecock Reservation and saw it sticking out of a pile of rubbish on a beach.
“I happened to look over my shoulder as I was walking along the swamp and from the last big tidal storm you could see all the debris washing up and the bottle was just sitting on top of it,” he said.
He broke the bottle to read the message inside and immediately saw that it was related to Mattituck High School and posted the images to their alumni Facebook group.
The story quickly attracted attention and Brook's son, John, 56, saw it.
He responded to the Facebook post: “Oh my god…I'm in tears and so emotional.
“Dad really loved doing this activity with his students, and this is such a welcome and timely reminder!! Thank you so much for posting!!”
But the fortunate discovery came at a bittersweet time for John and the rest of his grieving family.
The beloved teacher died from the disease in September Alzheimer's and his youngest daughter, Heather, 49, died unexpectedly in her sleep just weeks later.
“That's what makes this situation so surreal,” John said The New York Post.
“There have been times over the years where we have heard of bottles being found, but this is the first time in the last ten years that I can remember.
“The timing of it is just so perfect. It gives us something heartwarming.”
One of the letter's co-writers, Benny Doroski, who also saw the post, wrote: “Mr. Brooks was a great teacher. What a nice project. I can't believe it's been 32 years.
“I really want to meet whoever found this bottle!!”
Tarvis has been in contact with the Brooks family online and plans to return the letter in person.
John, who is disabled Navy veteran, said his father was “born to be a teacher” and that he loved getting his students involved in all kinds of fun projects.
“That's why he did the 'Message in a Bottle' project,” he recalls.
Brooks had taught earth science to the school's 9th grade for nearly 40 years, while also teaching football, volleyball, track and sailing.
His students also included his four now adult children.
Although the bottle appeared to have stayed close to Long Island, John suspects it made a much longer journey.
“My gut tells me this bottle probably went all the way around the Atlantic Ocean and then went home,” he said.
In July, The Sun told how a builder knocked down a fireplace and was stunned to find a message in a bottle from almost a century ago.
Dan Dafforn, 32, worked on the family house when he discovered two secret messages.
One of them was handwritten history of the house from 1931 – and a newspaper clipping from 1926.
And in January last year a message in a bottle found its way back to the original sender 37 years later it was thrown into the ocean.
The note, long lost to the sea, eventually returned to Troy Heller, now 47, after it washed up again on a Florida beach and a couple tracked it down.
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