'Desperately Seeking Susan': Marine Corps veteran, 65, puts up a sign with his number at an Alabama intersection to try and find a woman he met online after accidentally DELETING her info
- Mike Knowles, a 65-year-old former sergeant from Fairhope, Alabama, met his potential match, Susan, on an online dating service
- He was about to ask her out when he accidentally deleted their conversation
- Desperate to find her, Knowles posted a sign on an intersection listing his home and cellphone numbers that read: 'Susan - call - Mike...My computer is down!!!'
- An image of the sign was also shared on a local magazine's Facebook page
- When Susan saw it, she reached out to him, and he immediately asked her out
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran posted a large sign with his phone number on the corner of a busy intersection in his hometown in the hope of finding a woman he connected with online.
Mike Knowles, a 65-year-old former sergeant from Fairhope, Alabama, met his potential match, Susan, on an online dating service and was just about to ask her out when he accidentally deleted their conversation, losing his only form of contact with her.
'I wrote her a message and somehow or another I pulled up something that had "delete" on it, and I pushed that button and it wiped everything out,' he told NBC15. 'And all of a sudden, it was gone.'
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Oh no! Mike Knowles, 65, from Fairhope, Alabama, was about to ask his online match, Susan, out on a date when he deleted their conversation and lost contact with her
Going all out: Desperate to find her, Knowles posted a sign on an intersection listing his home and cellphone numbers that read: 'Susan - call - Mike...My computer is down!!!'
Knowles recalled the moment he first saw Susan's picture and sent her a message, saying: 'I thought she was a very pretty lady.'
They spent more than a month getting to know each other, and he was pleasantly surprised to find out that they had a lot in common.
'We were to the point where I was about to ask her to go out with me, because we were at that point,' he said. 'And I was in the process of sending her a message to have dinner with me.'
That's when disaster struck, and he accidentally deleted their conversation and his connection to her. The two had never exchanged phone numbers, and the only thing he knew for sure was that she lived in the neighborhood.
Knowles was desperate to find her, and he figured if she lived nearby, she must drive through the intersection of County Road 32 and 181 just about every day.
Determined: Knowles also searched for her online and visited local businesses to see if anyone knew her
'I said, well, I'm gonna make a sign and put it on the corner. And if she goes out that way to Walmart, if she's a sign reader, she'll see my sign,' he explained.
'Susan — call — Mike,' the sign read, listing both his home and cellphone numbers. 'My computer is down!!!'
Going viral: An image of the sign was shared on a local magazine's Facebook page along with Knowles' story
A photo of Knowles' sign eventually made it online after Lynn Henderson Oldshue, the editor of the local magazine Our Southern Souls, shared the veteran's story in a post titled: 'Desperately Seeking Susan.'
Knowles explained that he had met Susan on an online dating service several months ago but had been taking things slow.
'At this age when you make a mistake or get mixed up with the wrong person, it is hard to rebound,' he said. 'I hadn't gotten her last name or number yet. But our last conversation we had talked about going to dinner. Her last response was let's make a date. I somehow hit delete and lost everything.
'I had no way to find her or contact her again. That was two weeks ago and I have worn my tablet out trying to find her.
'The only thing I knew to do was to put this sign in the area I think she passes through and hope she sees it.'
Knowles also visited a couple of restaurants and stores in the area to see if anyone knew his mystery woman and could help him find her.
'I guess they think I am crazy, but I really want to meet this woman,' he admitted. 'I thought long and hard before putting up this sign with my number, but it seems like my only hope to find Susan, so I had to take the risk.
Happy ending: When Susan saw it, she reached out to him, and he immediately asked her out
Backup plan? Knowles, who has taken the sign down, said two other women have also reached out to him to give him their numbers
'I worried that the letters and numbers were too small, but if you could read it and call me, maybe she can, too.'
As luck would have it, Susan saw the post and reached out.
'I got a call from her this morning and she said, "I think I'm the lady you're looking for,"' Knowles said.
This time, he made sure to ask her out to dinner, and she accepted his invitation. Whether or not love is in the cards for them, he is just happy to have a new friend — he also has a few more dating options thanks to his romantic gesture.
'I had two ladies call me last night,' he admitted. 'They said, "If you can't find her, keep my number."'
