Tour guide finds 42-year-old message in a bottle on Australian beach

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- An Australian man leading a tour group on a Western Australia beach discovered a message in a bottle dated from April 1979.

Ashley McClintock said he was leading a quad bike tour at Wagoe Station, near Kalbarri, when he spotted what he initially thought was litter on the beach.

"I thought it was somebody's water bottle so I asked the last person in the group to pick it up," McClintock told The West Australian. "It turned out it was an old bottle with 'poison' written on it."

The bottle contained a water-damaged note on a piece of folded cardboard. The message was dated April 3, 1979, and signed by "I Cassidy."

"If this is found four years or more after it is sent reward will be offered. Contact address on other side. If it is found less than this, 50c for each year but please contact I Cassidy," the message reads.

The address on the other side was damaged by water, but appears to have listed a location in Geraldton or Carnarvon.

McClintock said he hopes Cassidy will hear the news of the bottle's discovery and get in touch.