June 16 (UPI) — A 17-year-old spearfishing in Portugal’s Azores archipelago ended up with an unexpected catch — a message in a bottle launched from Rhode Island in 2018.
Christian Santos, 17, whose family moved from Boston to Portugal when he was 5, said he was fishing near the island of Sao Jorge when he came across a sports drink bottle containing an index card.
The card’s message, written in orange marker, reads: “It is Thanksgiving. I am 13 and visiting family in Rhode Island. I am from Vermont.”
The message also included an email address and a request for the finder to send a message.
The teenager showed the message to his mother, Molly Santos, who told him it had originated near his place of birth.
“What are the chances of someone from Portugal, who can actually read English, finding that and understanding what it says,” she told the Boston Globe.
Molly Santos posted a photo of the message on Facebook. She wrote that she had attempted to send emails to the provided address, but had not yet received a response.
Christian Santos said the sender would be about the same age that he is now.
“I would like to tell them I found it, where it was and what I was doing, and we’re going to be friends for life,” he told WCVB-TV.