Teenagers' message in a bottle seeking boyfriends found after 56 years

April 7 (UPI) -- A pair of British teenagers in search of boyfriends launched a message in a bottle into an estuary in 1966 -- and it was found more than five decades later by a litter-picking crew.

Members of the Scunthorpe Litter Pickers group said they found the message in a bottle while cleaning up around the Humber Estuary in South Ferriby, North Lincolnshire, England.

The group members opened the bottle and found a note written by 15-year-old friends Jennifer Coleman and Janet Blankley. The letter, dated Aug. 9, 1966, asked any single boys over the age of 16 and under the age of 18 to write back.

Tracey Marshall, a member of the litter-picking crew, was able to find Coleman on Facebook.

Coleman, who moved to Australia after finishing school, said she location where the bottle was found was only a few yards from where she and Blankley launched it.

"I think it must have gone out a little way, and then came in on the next tide," Coleman told the BBC.

Coleman said she isn't in touch with Blankley anymore, but she was "absolutely amazed" to learn their letter had been found.

Marshall said the discovery was a first for the Scunthorpe Litter Pickers.

"We've found all sorts of weird and wonderful things when we're litter picking, but we've never, ever found anything on this scale," she said. "It's just brilliant."

Coleman said the bottled message was unsuccessful in finding her a boyfriend, but she did eventually find love at the age of 49.