Local News

Woman’s letter in a bottle from Provincetown, a message to her late father, found in France

"The letter had been strongly sealed with the help of paraffin, which kept the letter intact on its 6,000 km journey across the ocean.”

January 28, 2024

1 minute to read

A Massachusetts woman wrote a letter to her late father and put it in a bottle set adrift in the ocean in 2021. In 2024, a history teacher found it in France.

Jodi Lin Thomas and her late father, Tommy, a pilot boat captain in New Bedford, shared a love for each other and the sea, according to WBZ TV.

“He would call me from his boat when he would go out with a pilot ship. I had a special flashlight because he could see me, and I could see him out of my window. I can see the harbor from my home,” Thomas told the news station.

After his passing, Thomas put a message to him in a bottle twice, she told WBZ. The first time, it was weighted and sank to the ocean floor in a special spot. Then, when Thomas was scattering her father’s ashes in Provincetown, she sent a message adrift in a bottle.

That bottle was found in France by a history professor named John Rouchoud, according to the news station.

“There was something inside with writing. I brought it home and opened it. There was a letter written in English. It was a daughter writing to her late father. The letter had been strongly sealed with the help of paraffin, which kept the letter intact on its 6,000 km journey across the ocean,” Rouchoud told WBZ.

Rouchoud tracked Thomas down on social media after reading the contents of the letter.

When she was contacted, Thomas initially thought it was some sort of scam, but when Roucoud sent a picture of the bottle, she changed her mind, according to the news station.

“I believe in signs. I believe in spirituality. It went there for a reason,” Thomas told WBZ.

The two plan to meet up at some time in the future, as they’ve kept in touch since discovering their shared connection over this hidden message in a bottle, according to the news station.