Geocachers Find a Message in a Bottle from 1970. It says… (Part 2)

 

Jean-Francois with bottle
Jean-Francois with bottle

Part 2 or 2 [read part 1]

 

A message in a bottle captures the imagination…

…and apparently, the attention of media. Last week we published  Geocachers Find a Message in a Bottle from 1970. Its says… (part 1). Jean-Francois Cianci (known in the Geocaching word as Monkeyturtle) detailed how he discovered a bottle while clearing garbage from a wetland at a Calgary, Alberta area CITO event.

The bottle contained a very clear note from 1970. It also contained a request, a mission even. And Jean-Francois took the mission seriously. The note read, “Anyone finding this bottle please contact: Darilyn Yates and Georgia Love… ”

The message in the bottle

 

Jean-Francois, who discovered geocaching in 2003 and now has more than 250 logged geocaches finds, is used to finding. As determined geocachers often say, he wouldn’t DNF this (Did Not Find).  An online investigation began but success didn’t come easy, “(I) did a search online with the name and the city where they were from.  I found the name of Darilyn Yates’ father and found he had moved to another city. From there I contacted a Darilyn from the same area but with a different surname and it was a match!” Darilyn says she dropped the bottle in the Bow River while on vacation in 1970. She was just 14 years old, and according to news reports, not sure exactly where along the river she tossed the bottle in.

Darilyn today
Darilyn today [Courtesy CTV News]

Darilyn in 1970 [Courtesy CTV News]
Darilyn in 1970 [Courtesy CTV News]
Darilyn had moved hundreds of miles away to Vancouver Island. She fondly recalled the trip she took back in 1970 when she dropped the message in the bottle in a river. Jean-Francois says, “Darilyn has contacted Georgia’s cousin to let her know about the find.”

Since finding the message in the bottle, the story has spread across Canada.

calgary herald article
The story first appeared in the Calgary Herald (Click the image to read the story)

You can hear and see Darilyn and Jean-Francois. They’ve appeared on CBC radio together [click on Part Two in the link]. And even in this CTV television story.

The stories is not over yet though. Jean-Francois plans to hand deliver the bottle back Darilyn. He’ll drive to Vancouver, securing his first to find and reuniting Darilyn with a 44-years-old memory – that had patiently waited for her in a bottle.

Click to meet Darilyn and hear from Jean Francois
Click the image to see the news story featuring Darilyn and Jean-Francois