A man from Utah whose hobby is to find messages in bottles and reunite them with their senders is currently working on solving a 33-year-old mystery with a Maritime connection.
Clint Buffington says his father found the message and gave it to him.
“Hey dude,” the letter reads. “I’m a grade 10 student from Cole Harbour District High School I like to party and have a good time. I (live on) the coast and this is, I think, half decent. If you (are from another) country I would appreciate a penny (of) foreign money. Being a Canadian isn’t bad. There is a lot to do and the people aren’t so bad.”
The writer says the letter was released “offshore in the gulf stream by a swordfish boat.”
Buffington says the whole message can be understood, except for the signature at the bottom.
“We may not have their exact name, but we have the school they went to (and) we know what year they sent it,” Buffington says. “Surly if we ask for help online, people will be able to put this together and solve the mystery.”
Buffington has found over 80 messages in bottles and reconnected about 30 of them with their original sender. It’s a hobby that requires a lot of detective work, but one that he doesn’t take lightly.
“I can’t explain this, but I’ve never had as much interest solving a message,” Buffington says. “I’ve had help solving messages before, but I don’t know if there’s ever been as much interest in solving a specific message as this one.”
Buffington says he has a few leads, but nothing definitive.
“Nova Scotia seems to have a really strong sense of community… it just seems like people are really willing to chip in and help solve it.”
Buffington is hoping for someone to recognize the letter and get in touch with through his Facebook page or at messageinabottlehunter.com.
