A bizarre message in a bottle dated from 2001 has washed up on a beach—containing tips on Bin Laden’s possible whereabouts and the finale of Friends.
Timur Timondegus, 8, found the 18-year-old letter on June 11, 2019, as he was walking on the beach after enjoying fish and chips with his mom, Olesja Akmane, 31.
The little boy unscrewed the bottle and found the anonymous message prophesying Osama Bin Laden—the then-world’s-most-wanted man—was hiding in Kyrgyzstan.
Dated May 17, 2001, the message reads: “Sending a message in a bottle!
“Friends finale is looming… Ross and Rachel?
“Osama Bin Laden... check Kyrgyzstan… I have a feeling.... on to something lads.”
Timur Timondegus discovered the bottle, lost at sea for nearly 20 years.
Mother of two Olesja, a waitress, from Swords, County Dublin, said: “I was so surprised and my son was so excited.
“It looks real. It looks very old. It’s not something someone would joke about. Timur thought he had found treasure. It’s a small piece of history for him to keep.
“I would love to see if we could find the person who wrote the letter. Who is this person? I’d really like to know.
“My son wants to keep it in his room. He was really excited by it.”
The note suggested Al-Qaeda terrorist Bin Laden might be somewhere in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia.
At the time, he was at the center of a worldwide manhunt and was eventually found and killed in Pakistan.
The message also referred to the final episode of series seven of Friends—The One with Monica and Chandler’s Wedding—which aired on the same day the note was written.
Olesja, who also has a 4-year-old daughter, Sophia, said: “It has made us want to write a letter in a bottle too.”
