A boy threw a message in a bottle into the Atlantic Ocean. It returned to him 37 years later

We have all seen movies where people send secret messages in bottles across oceans and years later, people discover and decipher them. It seems like a dream to ever come across such a fantastical scenario. However, a man from Kentucky is living the dream as he has reunited with a message in a bottle that he wrote as a young boy, reports PEOPLE. During a trip to Vero Beach, Florida, in 1985, 10-year-old Troy Heller inserted a letter into a Pepsi bottle and threw it into the Atlantic Ocean.  

On November 13, 2022, the bottle washed up near Sebastian, 13 miles north of the location where Heller tossed it into the water. Heller told WKLY, "I just thought I'd throw it in the ocean and see where it went. So it's just amazing that it finally found its way back." Two teachers reportedly came across the bottle while clearing up the beach's trash after Hurricane Nicole. They decided to hand it over to Katie and Annie Carrmax who were walking in the area with their children, Kylie and Emmy.

Katie said, "We just feel really special that we ran into two wonderful teachers picking trash up after the hurricane." The Carrmax then set off on a search for the sender of the message. According to a video the family posted on TikTok, they took the bottle home, shattered the glass and pulled out the letter, which had Heller's name, age, address and phone number. "P.S. whoever finds this call me or write to me," the note said at the bottom of the page. Heller's current contact information was eventually discovered by the Carrmax family after some web research.

Heller shared that he was having lunch one day when he received a call from Florida. Although he rejected the call, he then received a text message from the same number. Heller was astounded to see a picture of his old letter attached to the message. He said, "As soon as I saw it, I remembered writing it. I'm just surprised it didn't break." The discovery of the mystery guy made Carmaxx "really happy." She added, "I was really looking forward to seeing who he was."

According to their TikTok video, the Carrmax family finally returned the letter to Heller with their own note and pictures of the message he had written inside the bottle. Heller has now had the letters and pictures framed for his Mount Washington residence. He said, "It's something you never thought would happen. I thought I'd just throw it out in the ocean and just see where it went, you know? It's just amazing that it finally found its way back."

The TikTok video has gathered over 400k views with over 58k likes. Several people commented, relaying their own experiences and how nostalgic this message in a bottle made them feel. One person commented, "My cousin put a message in a bottle in Maine. It was found on a beach in Ireland 20 years later!" Another added, "That is awesome! I saw that old metal twist on Pepsi top and bottle and knew it was a good one!!"