A message written by a nine-year-old girl 53 years ago has been found inside a bottle during a clean-up operation in a marshy area of the US state of New Jersey.
John Kauterman, co-founder of a New Jersey clean-up organisation, shared a picture of the message on social media.
The note, written by a girl named Laurie Blair, was a joke in which she claimed she had been kidnapped and taken to an island off the Atlantic coast, where cruel fishermen were forcing her to jump into the sea.
The message stated that the bottle had been released from Ocean City beach on 20 August 1973. It asked whoever found the bottle to deliver the note to her family, saying it might help save her life.
John Kauterman shared the picture of the message on social media in an attempt to find Laurie Blair. Although Laurie was not found, the image of the note reached her sister, Alicine Spencer.
Alicine Spencer said her sister asked her to write the message because her handwriting was better. She then placed it inside a bottle and released it into the sea from the beach.
She said her sister was very creative and had a strong sense of humour.
Allison Spencer also told John Kauterman that Laurie Blair died in 2019 due to cancer.
John Kauterman sent the letter to Alicine Spencer, who plans to frame the message and display it in her home.







