Florida kayaker finds message in a bottle containing man's ashes

Feb. 8 (UPI) -- A Florida kayaker said he picked up what initially appeared to be trash in the water and soon discovered it was a message in a bottle that contained a man's cremains.

Jeff Zimmerman of Cape Coral said he and some friends were kayaking on Sunday in Four Mile Cove when he spotted the object in the water.

"It was just kind of intertwined with the mangroves, kind of looked like junk," Zimmerman told WBBH-TV.

Zimmerman said a closer examination revealed the floating bottle entangled with a "Happy Birthday" balloon contained a written message and someone's ashes.

"Immediately, we realized that this is someone's internment vessel," Zimmerman said.

The author of the message inside the bottle wrote that the ashes were the cremains of a deceased brother whose birthday would have been Feb. 5.

"If you receive this bottle, please throw him back in the water," the message's author wrote.

Zimmerman said he decided not to immediately throw the bottle back into the water because it was poorly sealed and starting to leak.

The kayaker said he is now hoping to get in touch with the deceased man's family to help them find a more permanent vessel for their beloved relative's remains.

"Your brother went on a kayaking trip with us, he went with a couple of guys from Cape Coral, and we'd like to preserve this and let other people adventure with him," Zimmerman said.