There was nothing special on this journey too as it was a usual fishing trip for the boys. They had prepared to have a lot of fun without any reeling. Yet, that one afternoon was exceptional and especially one for the books.
Once he saw his rod bend into a deep curve, and he started screaming and staggering as he was pretty sure that there was something big at the other end of the rod. He realized that his nephew couldn’t handle this alone, thus he hurried himself to help him. They were not prepared to see what was at the other end of the rod. A drenched and leathery object appeared and they were quite sure that it was not fish. They carefully dragged the rod towards them, minding not to lose it.
What Started as a Typical Trip
It was a significant fourth of July trip fro Brodie Brooks whoa was 11-years-old. He had been invited to go fishing with the older boys in the family, finally. It was a great opportunity for him to try out his new to which he had gotten for his birthday.
Nonetheless, everything turned upside down as he got something else other than fish. This should have been a great fishing escapade for him but it turned out to be an absurd encounter in his life.
The Waiting Game
Brodie and his uncle rode their boat out of Lake Hartwell in South Carolina intending to give the young newbie one in a million adventure. Two of them sat back and had chitchat sluggishly. Their equipment was all set and they were waiting for something to bite.
They had no idea that this lazy and chilling afternoon would turn out to be a really messed up one. Thye never thought that their grand afternoon would end up them calling up the police.
Bringing it In
All that Ben Myers was to give Brodie an unforgettable experience with his new fishing rod. He taught the young one how to attach the bait and the right method to angle the reel out into the water in order to get good outcomes. Ben didn’t anticipate that Brodie would find anything as it was his first time. But that expectation shattered as the kid started screaming that he’d gotten something.
The enthusiasm lowered itself to fear when he saw what Brodie had reeled in. He was looking right at the strange object that was slowly coming towards them. It was nothing he ever prepared for.
What’s That?
“It was bobbing my rod up and down. It was also quite heavy and felt like a really huge fish,” Brodie exclaimed. He was so excited when he felt that he caught a really big fish as his rod was newfangled. “I was so scared that my rod going to break and snap.”
It was an old bag, hey realized when the leathery object came out. Its sized ad weight stipulated that there was something inside of it. Brodie opened the zipper without thinking twice. He called his Uncle Ben when he saw what was there in the bag.
A Mystery Item
Ben realized that the bag was very old as he lifted it in his hands. If not something slithered out from the bag, he couldn’t have guessed how old it was. The ‘thing’ that glided away from the bag disclosed the truth about what was there in the bag.
Even though the purse had been in the water for a long time, it was neither harmed nor distorted. the leather was mud-caked and faded, yet it was whole and solid. They peeped into the bag. They noticed some random objects and some of which they couldn’t identify. As Ben’s eyes caught one specific item, his heart began to pound.
The Inside
The content of the drenched bag made Ben nervous. The first thing they both got hold of was some old printed photos. They couldn’t identify the people, so they kept on looking through the purse.
They were quite sure that the owner of the bad should be a woman, based on its content. Ben was constantly nodding his head as he was so nervous about the discovery. He had been going fishing at this lake for several years along with his friends, yet he had never encountered something like this before.
More Mysteries Abound
They were happy that the items inside the bag were intact even though the bag was drenched in water. They had discovered some store cards, tubes of lipstick, a teasing comb, and other personal effects, even a wallet.
The discovery left Ben and his nephew among thousands of questions. They wondered what could have happened to the owner of the bag and how long had the purse been at the bottom of Lake Hartwell.
So Many Secrets
There were several photos of people. From the color and the quality of the photos, it seemed that those had been snapped years ago. Hence, they thought that finding the owner would be an impossible thing.
But that vanished when they opened up another part of the bag. It seemed that the answer to their question was within the bag itself. They felt like they had found the answer to the mystery as well.
“I Know This Person”
The purse had another pocket that they didn’t search before. It contained more old pictures inside. They carefully took out the pictures and separated one by one in order to dry them out in the sun. They were still pondering what could have happened to the owner of the purse. And then they found one specific photo.
They were shocked at the moment that they saw the picture. One of the people in the photos stared back at them! A chill ran up in their spines. With that, they thought it was time to call the police.
What Happened?
Ben identified the face of the woman in the pictures. Even Brodie felt that she was familiar. She was a person that Ben knew from way back, a family friend. And he has not seen her for the past ten years.
Ben got more messed up with that. He was scared a bit. Again he was stuck in thousands of questions. Why was her purse in the lake? Could their discovery actually be evidence in an investigation?
“We Have To Find Her”
Ben felt that he should found her. So he called the police and asked them to help to find the bag’s owner. He searched the woman’s name on Facebook and then tried to find any relative or friend of hers. Consequently, he found her nephew’s Facebook profile.
The nephew was shocked to hear that they had found the bag after all these years and from the bottom of a lake! Thus, he quickly called the woman’s mother to give her news of the bag.
Who is April Bolt?
With the help of the nephew, Ben and Brodie were able to find many more details about its owner. Her name is April Bolt. Fortunately, she is still alive and is 49 years old. It was hard for her to believe that her purse had been found.
It was really a hard blow for her. April had claimed that she lost the bad in 1992 in an interview with ABC News. For all these years, she had thought that her bag was thieved, not that it was laying at the bottom of a lake!
Theories on the Missing Bag
Then, she told the story of how she lost her bag. She attended an event at Lake Hartwell in 1992. They were on a boat. They had parked there for a while in order to enjoy a barbecue picnic.
She had no idea what happened to her purse. “There were two guys there fishing and – I hate to accuse anybody – but when we got back I was like, ‘My pocketbook is gone!” said April.
Heartbroken
What happened really sadden her as the bag contained important documents and other stuff which meant so much to her. “I was crying so hard. It was a lot of work trying to cancel my IDs and credit cards,” she recalled.
“My favorite lipstick was also in there, and that color has been phased out.” Despite all the items she lost in the bag, she was more heartbroken for losing a specific item that was in the bag.
Most Important
The most valuable thing among all the possessions she had inside her bag was the photos of her son. “What was heartbreaking was that my little boy’s photos, all of it, were in that purse,” she recalled.
Her son was already 26 years old when the bag was found. Yet, in the pictures, he was just one year and three months old. The bag contained copies of the professionally taken photos. “The photos now are water damaged, but you can still make him out,” she said tearfully.
Not Happy
The uncle and nephew were amazed by the story of April. Reviewing what happened to them, both of them still couldn’t believe all that actually happened. It was more like a movie to them.
“What are the odds? You fish a bag out from the bottom of the lake — and then you recognize the owner from the photos inside,” said Ben excitedly. On the flipside, Brodie was not happy at all as he couldn’t catch a single fish from his new rod because of all that happened.
Treasure?
Brodie was sunk in sadness when he saw it was not fish that coming out. He never thought that he would reel out an old leather bag on his first day of fishing. More, he never expected that this old bag would lead them to such an incident.
To make Brodie relief, Ben said that he found a treasure. But this kid of 11 years old does not agree with him for sure. Yet, for April Bolt, getting back her long lost purse after many years was a completely different story.
The Meaning Of It All
She couldn’t still believe that she got her purse back. It was more like a dream to her. She thought it was quite fortuitous and doomy that she ultimately found her purse after 25 years.
She wonders why the purse came to her after all these years. She believed that there should be a reason for that. Was the universe trying to tell her something? What was the real meaning of this sudden find?
Memories
April is thrilled at being brought together with probably the most significant things she held so near her heart 25 years back. In any case, as yet, something at the rear of her brain is advising her there must be a trick someplace.
“There has gone to be a reason why this is happening,” she said. “I’m sure God will let me know at the right time.” Nonetheless, the first fishing experience of a kid turned out to be such a fascinating story.