Woman's Routine Boat Cleaning Leads To 95-Year-Old Message In Bottle Discovery

As she told the Detroit Free Press, she let him try out a breathing regulator on the shore of the Cheboygan River while she cleaned the windows of her glass bottom boat.

But while she was down there, she wanted to find something to keep her client interested so she swam upstream and came across a green bottle.

When Dowker removed the bottle's partially disintegrated cork, she discovered a message inside that had managed to remain legible despite being underwater since 1926.

As she said, "We pulled it out and none of us could believe our eyes. It was so cool! It's a once-in-a-lifetime find."

But any curiosity she had about who this could be would have to wait while she handled more immediate business matters.

In her words, "Saturday morning when I woke up, my phone had gone berserk, and I was busy on the boat all day doing scuba charters and glass-bottom boat tours."

So when commenters on the post announcing her initial discovery noticed that she couldn't respond to their suggestions, they took matters into their own hands.

And once Dowker got into contact with her, she learned that Morrow had likely placed the bottle into the water himself.

As Dowker put it, "She was like, 'I'm sure this was my father. He's been known to do things like that, he's done that his whole life.' And she said I wouldn't put it past him to have placed that bottle in the water on his 18th birthday."

Given that she had a diary with Morrow's handwriting, Dowker was convinced that Primeau was indeed who she said she was.

And although Dowker was prepared to return the bottle to Primeau, the daughter eventually let her company keep it to keep Morrow's memory alive.

Dowker now plans to put the bottle and a young photo of Morrow on display on her boat and has offered Primeua a lifelong pass for tours through Nautical North Family Adventures.

h/t: Detroit Free Press