The last time we heard from my in-laws in the Florida Keys, was when Hurricane Irma was making landfall. We haven't heard from them since. 

Then, last night at 6 o'clock, my Wife Karin's phone rang, and an unknown number was on her screen. It was from the 305 area code - an area code from South Florida.

Not knowing who it might be, but hoping it was news from The Keys, Wife Karin answered it...

Monroe County BOCC - Facebook 2
Monroe County BOCC - Facebook 2
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The caller was a woman who said, "I have a message to give to Karin - your family is OK. I wish I had more information than that, but I'm sorry. Your family is OK though."

Wife Karin started crying, and as she was thanking the woman, the woman on the other end of the phone started crying, too.

The woman texted Karin a Facebook page to help us keep up with the situation in The Keys. That is when I took the phone and tried to find out more information from this stranger who was helping us, like where SHE was located. Her answer was surprising and confused us.

She was in St. Petersburg, Florida - about 250 miles from Key West.

Another mysterious thing appeared - the name of a man named DAVE. We don't know a Dave...

 

strangers irma text
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We found out later that DAVE is  Lt. Dave Black of the Monroe County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department has no communications, as does any of the lower keys, but somehow, Lt. Black found a landline to call this mystery woman in St. Petersburg who contacted us. We speculate that she might be a police officer too, who evacuated to the north, and or a relative of Lt. Black.

God bless these two brave and selfless people who reached out and helped our family in this time of extreme stress and anxiety.

But now we still wonder - WHERE are Karin's family and is their home and property destroyed? Who is the mystery woman who relayed this message to us. Again, we will have to wait...

 

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