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Ryder Goggin was celebrating his fifth birthday on New Year’s Eve when he and his mother, Heather Baird, found a message in a bottle.
Fox40 reported the letter was found on a Mendocino, California, beach and Baird read the letter to her son.
“It says, 'Hi, my name is Chris. I am 10 years old and in the fifth grade,” Baird read. “‘I live in Sacramento. Call me when you find this to let me know where it washed ashore. Sept. 5, 1988.’”
The letter had a number listed so Baird immediately called, but she got a message saying it was disconnected.
After trying different methods of searching and coming up short, Baird excitedly announced on Facebook that the writer of the letter was found. "Heading to Sacramento with little man today. Stay tuned," she said.
It turns out that Chris' mother, Jan Popp, was watching news coverage of the story and made the surprising connection.
"It was surreal. It's just like, this can't be happening," she told "Inside Edition". "You read stuff like this in your local newspaper and when it's actually your kid and it was you that was there, it's pretty cool."
Popp wrote the note nearly three decades ago as her son dictated what it said.
Chris is now 38 years old, but he is estranged from his mother.
Popp hopes the letter can bring them back together.
"(Reconciliation) would be like winning the lottery. It would be better than that," she said.
In the meantime, Ryder and his mother are on their way to meet her.
"I think it is a really fun adventure for the little kid that found it," Popp said.
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