A soccer ball that apparently floated across the Pacific Ocean after being swept away by last year's devastating tsunami on March 11 has been found on the coast of Middleton Island off Alaska, U.S. authorities say.
The ball had Japanese messages of encouragement addressed to a boy and a signature indicating it was written in March 2005 by third-graders at an elementary school, Yumi Baxter, 44, the Japanese wife of David Baxter, 51, who found the ball, said over the phone.
After the boy's full name was found on the ball, its owner was identified as Misaki Murakami, a 16-year-old high school student in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, who lost his home in the disaster. Murakami said he believes the ball is the one he lost to the tsunami.