A British influencer discovered a “heartbreaking” message in a bottle linked to a man who died five years earlier – before using social media to locate his daughter.
Barri Ghai discovered the glass vessel lying among rocks and sand on a beach in Bude, Cornwall.
Inside was a memorial photograph, a handwritten letter and a small sealed bag believed to contain some of Pete Davies’s ashes.
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The letter explained that Pete had always wanted to travel and asked whoever found him to photograph his latest destination, contact his family and put him back into the sea.
But after Barri’s attempt to email Pete’s daughter failed, the 47-year-old launched a public appeal that was shared thousands of times.
Within hours, Pete’s emotional daughter Emma Davies and granddaughter Melissa had been located.
Barri, from Wiltshire, is a television presenter and professional paranormal investigator who runs the YouTube channel The Ghost Ghai.
He is also best known as the lead investigator on the television series Help! My House Is Haunted.
Barri and his wife Emma found the bottle on Friday, 24 July, while he was in Bude delivering a Paranormal Masterclass.
“The bottle was lying among the rocks and sand and initially just looked like a bottle that had washed ashore,” Barri told Need To Know.
“When I picked it up, though, I could see that there was a photograph inside, together with a handwritten letter and a small sealed bag.
“The photograph was an ‘In Loving Memory’ picture of a man called Pete Davies, showing his dates as 22 May 1952 to 14 July 2021.
“Once we realised what we appeared to be holding, the whole thing suddenly became much more significant.
“We suspected that the small bag contained some of Pete’s ashes, so we treated the bottle very carefully.”
The discovery came five years after Pete’s death.
Barri and Emma were only able to remove the memorial photograph safely while they were in Cornwall.
They took the bottle back to Wiltshire rather than risk damaging the handwritten message.
Three days later, Barri used the appropriate tools to carefully remove the letter while Emma filmed the moment.
He said: “That was the moment everything made sense.
“The letter had actually been written by Pete’s granddaughter.
“It explained that Pete had always wanted to travel and asked whoever found him to take a photograph, let his family know where he had travelled to and then kindly put him back into the sea so that he could continue his journey.”
The message included an email address for Pete’s daughter, Emma Davies.
But Barri and his wife did not receive a response after contacting it.
They later discovered that Pete’s granddaughter had accidentally missed the final “x” from her mum’s email address when writing the letter.
Barri said: “We didn’t know that at the time, of course.
“After waiting for a response, I decided to ask my followers for help finding Pete’s family.
“That’s when things became extraordinary.”
The influencer shared a public appeal on Facebook and Instagram asking people to help locate Pete’s relatives.
Within hours, Pete’s daughter found the Facebook appeal.
Emma commented: “I can’t thank you enough. Thank you so much, everyone.
“I’m honestly so happy. It’s made my day.
“Dad absolutely loved Cornwall and I couldn’t have wished for better people to find him.
“It’s been a very emotional few hours after finding this post.”
Pete’s granddaughter Melissa then identified herself beneath Barri’s Instagram appeal.
She wrote: “This is my grandad.
“I’m so, so happy. You don’t understand how much this means to us as a family.”
Melissa later contacted Barri privately and confirmed that she had written the letter placed inside the bottle.
Barri said: “That was an incredibly emotional moment.
“From the moment we found the bottle, Emma and I felt a responsibility towards Pete.
“We didn’t see the bottle as something we’d simply found and could do whatever we wanted with.
“These were somebody’s remains, photograph and personal message, and there was clearly a family behind them.
“Reading the letter made us realise that Pete hadn’t simply been placed into the sea to disappear.
“His family wanted him to travel.
“In a strange way, whoever found the bottle was being invited to become a small part of that journey.
“That’s why finding his family became so important to us.”
Barri also discovered an eerie coincidence linking Pete to him and his wife.
Pete was born on 22 May – the same date as Barri and Emma’s wedding anniversary.
He said: “Given that I’ve spent more than two decades investigating the paranormal and exploring questions about life after death, I find that strangely poignant.
“I’m not suggesting I know what it means, if anything, but sometimes coincidences make you stop and wonder.
“Was it simply chance that we found Pete, or was there a little bit of fate involved?
Social media users were moved by the discovery and the successful search for Pete’s family.
One person said: “This is exactly the sort of thing social media is good for.
“Good luck and I hope Pete’s journey continues.”
Another person added: “One day, Pete, I hope I’ll meet you on the open seas, or perhaps we’ll share a beach somewhere together before we bob along on our next adventure.”
A third person called the discovery “the definition of synchronicity”.
Barri and his wife now hope to speak to Pete’s family before deciding what should happen to the bottle.
He said: “Ultimately, I don’t believe that decision is mine to make.
“Pete belongs to his family and we want to respect whatever they would like us to do.
“If they would like us to help Pete continue travelling, Emma and I would be honoured to play a part in the next stage of his journey.”
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