Boy And His Uncle Finds Something Unusual While Fishing At Lake Hartwell Forcing Them To Call Authorities

 Brodie and his uncle Ben celebrated 4 July by going on fishing. It was a special day for the 11-year-old boy who had got a new fishing rod a few days ago only. No doubt, Brodie was very excited about testing his fishing rod. His uncle was going along to teach him the nitty-gritty of fishing. It was indeed a great day to go for an outing. They went to Lake Hartwell for their fishing trip. Believe it or not, the boy caught something very unexpected only on his first day. It was not a fish but something that made them call the authorities immediately.

A Typical Trip

Brodie Brooks is an 11-year-old boy who loves fishing. It was because of his love for the game his family planned a fishing trip on 4 July. This time was going to be fun as the boy for the first time was making a fishing trip with older boys in the family. To top it all off, Brodie had received a new rod as a gift. This trip provided him the perfect opportunity to test it.

Recreation Purpose

Lake Hartwell is an artificial reservoir situated in the border of Georgia and South Carolina on the Tugaloo, Seneca, and Savannah rivers. Till today, Lake Hartwell happens to be southeast’s most famous and largest lakes. This lake is formed by Hartwell Dam situated on the Savannah River. The lake is good for fishing and doing other interesting work.

Memorable Adventure

Brodie along with his uncle set out with their boat in Lake Hartwell, South Carolina. The man was excited to take Brodie on one of the most memorable adventures of his life. It was a sunny day and the water on the lake was clean and transparent.

Waiting Out

The duo began to wait after casting their fishing rods into the water. They were hoping to catch a big fish this time. After dipping the rod into the water, they sat back in their boat and began chatting. The weather was very pleasant that day.

Bringing It In

Ben Myers wanted it to be a great experience for Brodie. He taught the boy many techniques for fishing. He taught him how to attach bait and also showed him how to bend the reel into the lake to get the right angle to do the fishing in the best way. Ben had no expectation from Brodie as this was the first time his nephew was doing it.

Got It

However, his perception soon changed when the young boy began shouting that he actually had found something. However, his face got discolored when he pulled out the object. Ben was surprised as he had never expected him to trap something this huge. 

What’s That?

Brodie recalled, “It was bobbing my rod up and down. It was also quite heavy and felt like a really huge fish.” The boy had just begun fishing and he had managed to find something. Brodie at the same time was worried that the weight of the catch might snap his rod. “I was so scared that my rod going to break and snap.”

Not A Fish

What came out was not a fish. It was nothing they could have ever expected coming out of this lake. Whereas Brodie looked confused, his uncle had his jaw dropped. At first, they could not make out what was that but as the object came closer, they realize it was something unbelievable. 

Old Bag

It was a leather shaped object. The thing that came out was an old bag. Ben recalled, “He gets it to the top of the water, all of a sudden I see it’s a purse. I said, ‘Man you ain’t caught no fish, you caught a treasure!’”

Inside Out

Not only that, the bag looked quite heavy which meant it had some contents in it. Curiosity had taken over Brodie. He wanted to know what was inside that leather bag. So he opened it up. However, he could not go through the contents all alone. The boy called in his uncle on finding the things.   

A Mystery Item

The moment Ben took the bag in his hand, he realized that it was a very old purse. The purse looked old and tatty but he figured its real age when he found something sliding out of it that went on to reveal its content. Even though the bag remained in the water for a long time, it was whole and intact.  

A Look

They flipped the purse open and got a look inside it. Well, the purse was full of random items. They could not recognize some of the items inside the purse. But he went numb when he found this particular thing in the purse. He felt as if his heart had skipped a beat. 

The Inside

There were a lot of things in that water-filled bag. It also contained some faded printed pictures. The pictures were too faded to be identified. They kept the wet pictures aside and started looking for other items. They had to do it very carefully as the items were prone to get torn.  

The Owner

Looking at the contents, it was pretty clear that the bag belonged to a woman. Ben was still in disbelief. He and his friends had been fishing here for a very long time but not for once did they ever come across something like this. 

More Mysteries Abound

Surprisingly, the items were all drenched but in good shape. They also stumbled upon some store cards, teasing comb, and tubes of lipsticks. Not only that but they also found much other personal stuff that includes a wallet. 

So Many Secrets

The purse had many pictures in it. The color and quality of those pictures had completely faded. By their appearance it seemed that they were clicked about one or two decades ago. Except for the pictures, there was no clue that could lead them to the owner of this bag. It seemed impossible. 

Another Part

Their confusion dispelled when they opened the bag’s other part. This part was completely hidden and they might have never found it had they not checked the bag thoroughly. And this compartment also held photographs. There were a bunch of photographs kept in that section. One of those photographs goes on to stun Ben.   

Splitting Them

He took out all those pictures from the purse and separated them carefully. Thereafter, they put them in the sun to dry out. They wondered how this purse would have ended up in the lake. Ben had no idea what was he going to see in one of those pictures.

The Photograph

It was then Ben looked at the pictures. One of the people in the picture made him stop at his track. He kept on looking to confirm what he saw was true or not. Brodie too was in disbelief. The moment Ben regained his composure, he called the police. 

What Happened?

Ben had recognized one of the faces in the pictures. They knew a woman featured in those pictures. They were well acquainted with the lady. Ben had seen her a long time ago as she was a family friend. However, they were not in touch for the last decade. There were a lot of questions swirling in their minds. What was the purse doing there? Had they stumbled upon an important part of any crime. 

“We Have To Find Her”

They immediately reached out to the authorities to tell them about their find. They were anxious to know what had happened to the owner of the bag. Ben took to Facebook to find out the owner and her kin and kith. The man could not get any headway until he saw the profile page of the woman’s nephew. Ben left him a message about the purse.  

Found It

The nephew was not only astonished but also happy that the purse had finally been found. No doubt, what Ben told him took a while to sink in. Why would it not be? There was no hope left for the recovery of the purse. The nephew immediately made a call to the woman’s mother and told her about the purse.   

Who Is April Bolt?

The owner of the bag is April Bolt. She is a 49 years old woman who had lost her bag a few decades ago. Much to fisherman’s relief, the woman was alive and safe. As expected, the woman could not hide her astonishment on hearing the news. The woman had given up all the hopes of finding back the purse a long time ago and now she had found it when she had least expected. 

Never Thought

Bolt explained, “I couldn’t believe it. I was lost for words.” She continued, “You never think you’d see it again.” April thought that someone after stealing her bag must have taken out all the money. The thief then threw the purse inside the lake.

Since 1992

The woman found her bag missing in 1992. All these years she was under the impression that someone had stolen it from her. She felt terrible about losing the purse for some days after some time. 

Theories On The Missing Bag

She lost her bag while attending an event at Lake Hartwell in the year 1992. She also took a ride in the boat with her family. They parked the boat for some minutes to relish a barbecue picnic. April recalled, “There were two guys there fishing and – I hate to accuse anybody – but when we got back I was like, ‘My pocketbook is gone!”    

Heartbroken

She said, “I was crying so hard. It was a lot of work trying to cancel my IDs and credit cards.” “My favorite lipstick was also in there, and that color has been phased out.” She was sad not because all her things in the bag were gone but because of something else that she had kept in his pocket and now she was never going to get that back.   

He Cried

 

She shared, “I was devastated, I was crying. I knew it was going to be a lot of work trying to cancel all my credit cards and license. The main thing was my little boy was 15 months old and all his pictures were in there.”

Most Important

She said, “What was heartbreaking was that my little boy’s photos, all of it, were in that purse.” Her son at that time was only 15 months old and she had just fetched the copies of professionally taken pictures. “The photos now are water damaged, but you can still make him out,” she explained.

Time Capsule

Her daughter Abby Bolt calls the bag a time capsule. She said, “It’s quite humorous, considering the wallet, perfume, lipsticks, numerous credit cards from stores that were open 25 years ago, family pictures, 52 cents in change, a check book, a teasing comb, etc.,” “It’s a serious time capsule!”

Not Happy

This was the most unexpected and amazing fishing trip for Ben. “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,” told Ben. However, Brodie was not very happy about it. He wanted to catch a real fish that day with his brand new rod. Because of his unexpected catch, they stopped fishing right after. 

Treasure?

Brodie who was expecting a fish coming out while drawing in the rod felt sad when she saw the bag. It was his first time fishing and so he wanted it to be memorable by catching a fish. Instead of finding even a small fish, he caught an old leather bag. However, his uncle told her that what he had found was nothing less than a treasure but the boy did not feel the same.

Unexpected

The day was indeed memorable for Brodie but not in the exact way as he had expected. The 11-year-old boy was too young to understand that his discovery had reunited someone with her most precious possession.   

The Meaning Of It All

April does not take it as a coincident. She had found her missing belongings after 25 years. It was not without any objective. She is positive that there is a meaning behind what happened. The universe is trying to convey something to her. She is hopeful that one day she would find out. 

Memories

April is extremely happy that she had found her lost belongings back. “There has go to be a reason why this is happening,” she said. “I’m sure God will let me know at the right time.” Isn’t it amazing? How many times have you found something that astonishing while fishing?