Message in bottle tossed off N.J. in '69 found in N.C.

[December 03, 2008]  NORTH HALEDON, N.J. (AP) -- A message in a bottle tossed into the ocean off Barnegat Bay has turned up in North Carolina -- 39 years later. The note was sealed in a Schaefer beer bottle. It was dated Aug. 17, 1969, and read: "If found notify the North Haledon Fire Co. 2."

Mark Ciarmello and his 3-year-old daughter found the bottle along a beach in Corolla, N.C., in October. That's about 400 miles from where it was released.

The Downingtown, Pa., resident said he got on his cell phone, called North Haledon and e-mailed photos of the bottle to the firefighters.

No one is sure who tossed the bottle. But firefighters suspect it was during one of the many fishing trips that they used to take years ago.

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Information from: The Record of Bergen County, http://www.northjersey.com/

[Associated Press]

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