Girl's message in bottle found after almost a year

Both Harry and Grace's messages have now been found

A 12-year-old girl who was "convinced" her message in a bottle had sunk has been left stunned, after it turned up almost a year later.

Grace and her brother Harry, six, both threw glass bottles with hand-written notes off Roker Pier, Sunderland, on 28 August 2023.

While Harry's message was found in Denmark in March, Grace had almost given up hope.

But on 3 August, their mother Christie, 35, received a response telling her the message had been found on Pinno, an island in Sweden.

"(Grace) was really shocked, she couldn't believe it because there was a very slim chance that Harry's would be found, so when we discovered Grace's had also been found she was absolutely over the moon," she said.

Grace thought her bottle had sunk in the sea

It was found by Freddy Stahlberg, 72, on 2 August.

The retired university professor, who lives in Grebbestad during the summer, told PA Media he often goes on "treasure hunts" with his five-year-old grandson, and the little boy was excited about the discovery.

He said he initially found it hard to read the message as it had been in salt water.

"Our family tried our best to find words that were useful, and we were finally able to identify Christie's name, a hint that she had a [social media] address, as well as the word Sunderland," he said.

"We were all very enthusiastic about having solved the riddle".

Grace's mother said she initially thought there was "no chance" of the bottles ever being discovered further than the pier, because when her children threw them out to sea they started heading back to shore.

"They've both been found in the space of a year, you wouldn't expect them to be found so soon - I think it just shows how small the world actually is," she said.

She said she hoped one day she could take her children to the locations their bottles were found.