Kelowna woman finds 14-year-old love letter in bottle with a special connection to Victoria

A Kelowna woman’s unexpected discovery during a family trip has sparked a wave of curiosity, romance, and a little bit of Victoria connection.

Earlier this month, Kessa Desmarais was visiting family in Kamloops when she wandered down to Kamloops Lake for a peaceful stroll. That’s when something caught her eye along the shoreline—a glass bottle tucked in the sand.

Inside, she found a carefully folded piece of paper that had somehow survived over a decade in the elements.

“Hi!! So I found a message in a bottle today while walking along Kamloops lake,” she later posted to social media. “The letter is from May 24, 2011 and although it was wet, I very carefully unfolded it and was able to dry it out. Thought it was super cool to come across this and that it was in readable condition 14 years later.”

The letter, penned on a now-wrinkled but legible sheet, turned out to be a heartfelt love note. It was addressed to a man named Tanner James and signed simply with the letter “C.”

Desmarais didn’t share the full letter online out of respect for the couple’s privacy, but she did reveal a few key details—enough to spark intrigue for anyone familiar with the capital region.

Desmarais said the the letter was a romantic love letter. She said the authour of the letter indicated that Tanner was moving to Victoria and that she was torn on what to do.

The note indicated the author was grappled with the pain of distance and the fear of losing someone she loved. Desmarais believes the couple were in their early twenties at the time. Now, they’d be in their mid-thirties.

She was said he was leaving but didn’t want to hold him back.

Now, 14 years after it was written and thrown into the lake, she’s taken to social media in hopes of tracking down Tanner and “C” to learn how their story played out.

“I’d just love for them to reach out,” she said. “I would love to hear like, what happened? I’m just super curious because now I feel like I’m in the middle of a romance novel.”

Did the pair reunite in Victoria? Did “C” end up making the move? Or was this the closing chapter of a bittersweet long-distance goodbye?

Some people on social media did a bit of sleuthing and believe they found a Tanner from Victoria. While he did respond to their message, he hasn’t yet reached out to Desmarais directly.

For now, the ending remains a mystery—but if you know a Tanner James who moved to Victoria around 2011, you might just hold the key to unlocking the rest of this love story.