Sometimes, life surprises us in the most unexpected ways, like stumbling upon a hidden note in an old book, finding a childhood toy hidden away in the box, or discovering a long-lost letter behind a wall. These little moments remind us that the world still holds mystery, and even ordinary places can hide extraordinary stories. But what if one of these finds is about a century old?Something similar was found by a scuba lady who was following her daily routine.
What exactly happened?
For Jennifer Dowker, a regular day cleaning the underside of her glass‑bottomed boat turned extraordinary. As she dived into the Cheboygan River in Michigan, having years of diving experience below, she noticed an old green bottle resting on the riverbed about 10 feet underwater.According to a CNN report, “At first I thought it was just a cool bottle,” Dowker said. “When I picked it up … I could read the word ‘this’ in the paper.”—and thought, “‘Holy Smokes! We’ve got a message in a bottle here. Cool!’”. The bottle was about two‑thirds full of water and still held part of its cork, though the seal had naturally deteriorated over time.
Scuba diver finds a 99 year old pen note (Photo: Nautical North Family Adventures)
Once back on board, she gently retrieved the note using a small tool, careful to preserve it, and was stunned to discover a nearly century‑old message. It was dated November 1926 and read: “Will the person who finds this bottle return this paper to George Morrow, Cheboygan, Michigan, and tell where it was found?”Dowker posted photos of her find on her company’s Facebook page named Nautical North Family Adventures,captioning it as, “Any Morrows out there know a George Morrow that would’ve written this circa 1926? COOLEST night diving EVER.”. She expected a handful of responses, but the post exploded overnight, going viral with over 100,000 shares and thousands of comments.
Scuba diver finds a 99 year old pen note (Photo: Nautical North Family Adventures)
The writer of a near-century note was identified!
Then one Father’s Day, Dowker received a call from Michele Primeau, George Morrow’s daughter. Though she isn’t on Facebook, she had been contacted by a stranger who’d seen the post. Primeau recognized her father’s handwriting immediately, even though the letter was penned nearly two decades before she was born.While Dowker initially intended to return the bottle and note, Primeau asked her to keep it. She wanted the memory to live on and for Dowker to display the artifact in her boat’s office. Then, Dowker framed both the bottle and the note in a shadowbox, adding a photo of George Morrow at that age