Moriarty’s message in a bottle still a mystery

BY SARA KEDDY

Kings County Register

Half of the mystery is solved, but a Quebec family is no closer to finding Frank Moriarty.

In The Kings County Register of Nov. 8, we told a story, “Moriarty’s message,” about a family that found a note inside a water bottle on a beach near Sept Isles in September. It appears Moriarty wrote the note in June 2005 as he was crossing on the Ferry Camille-Marcoux and dropped the bottle overboard.

Michelle Chabot called The Register by chance after calling the Valley phone number and mailing off a letter with photos to the address on the note: with no luck.

“We have no answers - we are so disappointed,” she said then.

Since the story came out, Register readers have been in touch.

A half dozen emails and another handful of phone calls identified Moriarty: the long-time aquatics director at the Waterville Nova Scotia Youth Centre swimming pool.

His former boss, Bruce MacArthur, with the County of Kings called to relay Moriarty had sold his Randy Lane, Coldbrook, home over a year ago and moved to Newfoundland. A number of pool users also called immediately to identify Moriarty.

A roofing company called to say it had shingled Moriarty’s roof last summer.

Arnold and Sharon Rhyno of New Minas called to say Moriarty stayed with them for a month after his house sold and he moved away.

One email included three internet searches of Moriarty’s name and 411 details, finding hits back to 2003.

Finally, CBC Montreal called to get in on the story, doing a radio interview with Chabot about the mystery, and then offering this reporter a chance to pass on “clues” gathered at this end.

In a follow-up call with Chabot, collected addresses and phone numbers for Moriarty and a sister in Carbonear, NF, were shared. Chabot has since sent a postcard to the sister, and tried the Newfoundland telephone number: no luck.

“It says the number is closed,” she said Nov. 23. “Maybe you could send your story to a paper in Newfoundland and people could read it and find Monsieur Moriarty.

“We still have his bottle.”

If you have contact information for Frank Moriarty, perhaps in Newfoundland, please call 681-2121, ext. 309 or email editor@berwickregister.ca.