Fisherman discovers trunk full of memories

A fisherman made the discovery along the coast near the Harborwalk Marina in Hitchcock.

Every so often, the folks along the water in and around Galveston will still find storm debris from Hurricane Ike floating. But the folks at the Harborwalk Marina found more than just debris. They found decades' worth of someone's memories and they're hoping to return them to the owner.

[ SEE PHOTOS OF THE PERSONAL ITEMS IN THE TRUNK ]

In a canal leading from the Harborwalk Marina to the Intracoastal Waterway, a fisherman saw something floating, and reported it to marina management.

"It was basically right here on the edge of the channel, or pretty much right in the middle of the channel, and then we grabbed onto it with a rope and drug it onto this shoal," recalled Dodd Brunette, Harborwalk Marina leasing manager.

It was a rusted chest, covered in barnacles and filled with seawater -- and decades of someone's family memories. Brunette is now trying to find out who owned this chest before it was washed into the west bay, along with tons of other debris last September.

Brunette said, "This is from the General State College in Edmond, Oklahoma, January 27, 1969, Mr. David Pickard."

From a still wet family Bible, to ruined pictures and an obituary clipping for Donald Pickard of Bethany, Oklahoma, to a little girl's backpack with the name 'Lauren' stitched onto it, the memories in the chest date anywhere from the 1960s to the 80s or even 90s. And to someone, somewhere, perhaps even David or Lauren Pickard, they're memories lost.

"Somebody had it downstairs or it came from a house in Galveston or Crystal Beach or somewhere to where maybe the house was totally destroyed or things downstairs were totally gone," Brunette theorized.

If you know the Pickard family, or recognize any of the personal items, you're asked to call the Harborwalk Marina at 409-935-3737.