Man Finds Message In A Bottle Thrown Into River 35 Years Ago

EATON RAPIDS (AP) - An Eaton Rapids man has found the author of a note dropped into a bottle and sent into the Grand River 35 years ago.

Nathan Foote found the bottle last week while he was cleaning debris out of the water near the Smithville Dam, the Lansing State Journal reported. It was covered in duck weed and was brown with age, but the message was rolled up and tied tightly with a piece of fishing line.

Foote found the author, Marcia Polly, after Polly's brother told her about an article in the newspaper that described Foote's attempt to track down the author. Foot and Polly met Wednesday.

"I thought, 'Oh my God," Polly said. "It's that bottle."

Foote said he was eager to find Polly the second he discovered the message.

Polly said she was amazed that the message remained in the water for all those years undisturbed.

"It makes you think," she said. "There has to be a reason it was still wandering out there for 35 years. That's amazing."

Polly was 18 years old when she dropped the bottle from a bridge 12 miles down the river from where it was found.

In her note, dated March 30, 1981, Polly wrote that she wanted to see how far her letter could get and asked whoever found it to write her back and included her address.

Polly, 55, said she hoped as a young woman that the message could lead her to love.

"I thought, 'Maybe, just maybe, Mr. Right might be out there," she said. "I never thought it would take 35 years to find someone."

© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.