A 9-year-old's prank message in a bottle has been discovered 50 years later.
NJ.com reported that New Jersey resident John Kauterman discovered the bottle while cleaning up a stretch of wetlands. Inside, he found a letter dated Aug. 20, 1973, by a young girl named Laurie Blair Brown.
It says, "Please notify my family that a band of ruthless sponge fisherman are forcing me to dive for them in shark-infested waters!"
Kauterman posted an image of the letter on social media; he learned that Blair Brown had died in 2017. However, her sister, Allison Spencer, recognized it. She says she wrote the letter, but it was her sister's idea.
(Photo credit: John Kauterman/Facebook)
Jul 07, 2026
