Two mushroom hunters hunting along the Missouri River in Defiance discovered the message and contacted the Longs.

Traveling from Langdon, Missouri, to Defiance, Missouri, by way of the Missouri River, a message in a bottle thrown in by Nathan and Rochelle Long of Rock Port nine years ago was recently discovered.

A message in a bottle thrown into the Missouri River at Langdon Bend June 12, 2015, traveled 340 miles and was discovered nine years later.

Nathan and Rochelle Long of Rock Port, Missouri, were enjoying a country cruise that day nine years ago when they decided to visit the Langdon, Missouri, boat dock to gauge the river’s water levels. Rochelle said, “As we approached, a bald eagle caught our attention, perched on gravel near the road where water flowed. Nate drove across the water to the riverbank. Noticing litter along the bank, we cleaned it up, sparking the idea to place a message in one of the pop bottles and release it downstream. I penned the note and Nate threw the bottle as far as possible into the river’s center. We watched until it vanished from sight, occasionally tossing rocks in its direction.”

Rochelle recently received a phone call from an unfamiliar number and decided to answer it. A gentleman stated that he and a buddy were mushroom hunting and had found a message in a bottle along the Missouri River at Defiance, Missouri. The message read: Summer on the river. Let us know where you are when you find this! Stay classy. 6-12-15. Nate and Rochelle (and had their phone numbers listed at the bottom). While on the phone with the finder, Rochelle requested a picture of the letter and once received, she confirmed that sure enough, it was theirs.

For being nine years old and having traveled over 300 miles by water, the bottle held up well enough to keep the note from getting too water logged, making it still easy to read.