Birthday message discovered on Toledo Bend

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE SABINE PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE The note that arrived at Toledo Bend.

Fred boy’s balloon, message travel 100 miles

TOLEDO BEND – A three-day journey of a birthday balloon over the course of a hundred miles resulted in a heartwarming story shared by the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office.

On Thursday, Jan. 28, deputies with the agency in Sabine Parish were called out to a residence on Toledo Bend lake in reference to a discovery of a handwritten note.

The note, which the caller said had turned up on their property, stated it was from a five-year-old boy in Fred, named Bryan Pardue, and gave instructions to call the boy at a number written on the note, if found.

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Bryan Pardue

Sabine Parish Sheriff Aaron Mitchell shared the story to the department’s Facebook page and said that further investigation revealed the note was originally attached to a Happy Birthday balloon, and released on Pardue’s birthday, which was on Monday, Jan. 25. The note and balloon had travelled 100 miles from Fred, which sits in the extreme southeastern part of Tyler County to Sabine Parish, which sits along the western borderline of Louisiana and Texas. Deputies called the number and talked to the boy’s great-grandmother.

Mitchell said the deputies asked the great-grandmother to send them a photograph of the boy, and that he was “so happy” his note was found.

When the story was shared to the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office Facebook, it was shared more than 1,500 times as of Monday and resulted in a swell of birthday wishes for Pardue.