Wall Realtor's Sign Washes Up On The Shores Of France

WALL, NJ — While some beachgoers scour the sand for shells or beach glass, a Belgian man strolling the beach found a chunk of a Diane Turton, Realtors sign. Which doesn't sound all that unusual except for one thing: the man was walking the beach in Bordeaux, France.

Hannes Frank, who lives in Brussels and also has a home in Bordeaux, contacted the realtor two weeks ago to let them know he had found their sign.

"Diane and I don't sleep," said Perry Beneduce, marketing director for Diane Turton, Realtors. "She's up at 1, 3 and 5 doing email, and I am too."

On May 18, it was that 3:30 a.m. awakening that had Beneduce checking email, where he found a message sent through the company's website about the sign.

"I was skeptical about where it could be coming from," he said, so even as he told Turton about the email, he asked Frank to send him a photo.

"He sends me several photos," and when they checked the latitude and longitude information embedded into the digital information on the photo, they were able to confirm Frank was telling the truth.

"It was crazy," he said.

Diane Turton, one of the largest realtors in New Jersey with 425 agents, has 18 offices across Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties, but because each office has its respective cell phone numbers on its signs, they knew the sign had come from the Wall office, Beneduce said. But they were able to narrow it down even further.

"That office doesn't have many waterfront listings," he said, but they knew that a home in Brielle had lost its sign during Superstorm Sandy on Oct. 29, 2012. The home, which has since sold, sits on Debbie's Creek, which eventually feeds into the Manasquan River.

The sign was apparently traveling the currents of the North Atlantic Ocean ever since.

Beneduce said they have since struck up a friendship with Frank, who is sending the sign back to them, and Turton is hoping to arrange a meeting.

"It is so nice to know someone would take the time to do that (find us and send the sign back) in this day and age," Beneduce said. "It's also nice to know that our signs will stand the test of time."

"Having our signage wash up in France on the beach truly proves that Diane Turton, Realtors is a global real estate company," he said with a laugh.

Photos courtesy of Diane Turton, Realtors, published with permission