Florida Memorial Brick Possibly Found in New Bedford Waters

Sometimes, the ocean hands you more than just waves. Sometimes, it hands you a story.

While training for the Buzzards Bay Swim coming up on Saturday, June 28, I was doing laps down in the South End of New Bedford, right by Cisco Brewers. It was a peaceful swim, until something I stepped on suddenly caught my attention, and honestly it hurt like hell.

At first I thought I though it was a sharp rock or perhaps a clam shell, but when I reached down to check it out, I pulled up something I never expected: a tiny brick, about the size of a Tic Tac box, with a layer of felt cloth on the bottom. The cloth might have been to keep it from scratching a surface if it was meant to sit on a shelf or table.

A name was engraved into the brick: Emelee “Bean” Arbuckle.

What an interesting find, I thought to myself.

Sadly, once I got home and searched up the name, I found an obituary for a young woman who passed away in Florida years ago. What are the chances? I'll tell you this- if it’s the same person, it makes the discovery even more meaningful and heartbreaking.

READ MORE: The Obituary for Emelee "Bean" Arbuckle

Emelee passed away 12 years due to an unfortunate motorcycle accident at the young age of 23. Her 35th heavenly birthday arrives on June 27.

How a small, personalized memorial like this ended up in the waters of New Bedford is still a mystery. Maybe it fell off a boat. Maybe someone from this area knew Emelee or her family and placed it there intentionally. Either way, it left me thinking.

It’s not every day you find something like this in the ocean. It turned a routine training session into something unexpectedly emotional.

If anyone on the SouthCoast recognizes the name or has a connection to her story, maybe this little brick can lead to some answers, or at the very least, serve as a quiet tribute to a life gone too soon.