Girl floats letter to dead father on balloon, ends up touching hearts 400 miles away

AUBURN, Calif. -- A little girl from Whittier whose father passed away wrote a letter to him on the sides of a star-shaped balloon and then released it into the sky. Her message traveled hundreds of miles and inspired those who found it.

Jacob Brandt discovered the deflated balloon on the ground last week in Auburn, a part of greater Sacramento. He had just finished lunch at a restaurant and showed the balloon to the restaurant owner, Lisa Swisley.

Swisley said reading the message was incredibly emotional.

"Happy birthday dad. I will always be your little girl dad. Don't forget that I miss you," the message read.

The letter also described what the girl has been doing over the years, and how proud her father would be of her.

Swisley found the girl on Facebook and learned just how far her letter to heaven had traveled.

"It came over 400 miles. It's a long way and a lot of empty space in between, and how it got here, I don't know," Swisley said. "She asked in the letter to send her a sign, and so I don't know, maybe it came here for a reason."

Swisley is making sure the little girl gets that sign. She is putting together a care package to send to her.