Letter Sealed Inside a Bottle Nearly 30 Years Ago Resurfaces in a Lake in Canada

Letter Sealed Inside a Bottle Nearly 30 Years Ago Resurfaces in a Lake in Canada
(Courtesy of Michelle Schwengler)
Epoch Inspired Staff
6/17/2021
Updated:
6/17/2021

A letter that was written almost three decades ago and put in a bottle was recently found in a lake in Canada.

Michelle Schwengler, who was participating in a community cleanup exercise at Telford Lake in Leduc, Alberta, in late April, found the letter safely secured inside a floating bottle, reported the Global News.

“It was a weird bottle, it looked old,” Schwengler told the outlet.

The letter written in 1993 was found sealed inside a bottle floating in a lake in Leduc, Alberta, Canada. (Courtesy of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/michelle.schwengler">Michelle Schwengler</a>)
The letter written in 1993 was found sealed inside a bottle floating in a lake in Leduc, Alberta, Canada. (Courtesy of Michelle Schwengler)

After breaking open the bottle to get the letter, Schwengler posted a video on her Instagram page reading out the message written 28 years ago by a young girl named Daryl-Anne Steffen.

“I know I don’t know you, but I would like to know who you are, and maybe you could visit me,” she reads out the message in the video. “You can visit me on Saturday, June 19, 1993.”

The letter had an address, a phone number, and a drawing of a house.

The nearly three-decade-old letter written by Daryl-Anne Steffen. (Courtesy of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/michelle.schwengler">Michelle Schwengler</a>)
The nearly three-decade-old letter written by Daryl-Anne Steffen. (Courtesy of Michelle Schwengler)

Stumbling upon the special find, Schwengler took it upon herself to locate the young author. She called the number mentioned in the letter and left a voicemail, but got no reply, according to the Global News.

Still determined to track the little writer who penned the special invitation, Schwengler then turned to social media.

“Within 24 hours, somebody had reached out and said, ‘I think I was friends with this girl growing up in elementary school,” she told the outlet.

With this lead, Schwengler easily reached Steffen.

Michelle Schwengler reading the letter. (Courtesy of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/michelle.schwengler">Michelle Schwengler</a>)
Michelle Schwengler reading the letter. (Courtesy of Michelle Schwengler)

Steffen was around 8 years old, the same age her son is now, when she drafted the letter.

“I vaguely remember writing, maybe throwing it in the lake with my friend," Steffen said.

“I’m not really sure what led me to it, just had lots of those fun imaginative ideas when I was young.”

Schwengler will be mailing back the decades-old letter and some collectibles from that time to Steffen, the report said.

Daryl-Anne Steffen. (Courtesy of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=605025121">Daryl-Anne Steffen</a>)
Daryl-Anne Steffen. (Courtesy of Daryl-Anne Steffen)

Coming across the message she wrote in her childhood and tossed into the water, Steffen was very excited to see that it was in a good condition and still legible.

“That’s kind of cool it’s gone full circle,” said Steffen, who now lives in Calgary with her family.

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Epoch Inspired staff cover stories of hope that celebrate kindness, traditions, and triumph of the human spirit, offering valuable insights into life, culture, family and community, and nature.
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