Brodie Brooks, eleven, was on a Fourth of July fishing trip with a relative at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, when he felt a strong tug on his line. So he reeled it in, no likely with dreams of feasting on a giant catfish dancing through his mind. Instead, he discovered an old, wet pocketbook at the end of his pole.”When he gets it to the surface of the water, I notice it’s a purse.”

“I told him, ‘Man, you ain’t caught no fish, you caught a treasure!” his relative, Ben Meyers, remarked. Given how long the purse had been at the bottom of the reservoir, it and its contents were amazingly well kept. It was a time capsule of sorts, comprising lipstick tubes, a hair pick, a wallet, a checkbook, credit cards, and photo IDs.

Ben examined one of the image IDs more closely and discovered he recognized the owner, a long-time family friend called April Deanhardt. “By chance, did you lose a pocketbook maybe 20 years ago at the bottom of Lake Hartwell?” he said.Yes, she had, despite the fact that she had always assumed it had been stolen. She hadn’t seen the handbag since 1992, when she was out fishing with her husband and 15-month-old kid at the reservoir.

She picked up her infant son so they could go out to eat with her in-laws, but she forgot her handbag. When they returned, it had vanished. She’d always assumed that two males fishing nearby had stolen it, and “I was devastated, I was crying.” I thought it would be difficult to cancel all of my credit cards and license. The most important part was that my son was 15 months old and all of his pictures were in there.

“It’s quite humorous, considering the wallet, perfume, lipsticks, numerous credit cards from stores that were open 25 years ago, family pictures, 52 cents in change, a check book, a teasing comb, etc.,” her daughter, Abby Bolt, said. “It’s a serious time capsule!” What are the chances that Brodie would find the purse after 25 years and happen to know who had it?