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Geocaching game may have sparked bomb scare


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The local police turned over the case to the local police.
I read it as the Butler County Sheriff's Department turned it over to the Monroe City Police.
I bet you're right.
They found a piece of tupperware in a bush. I don't see any charges being filed.
I wouldn't be too surprised if they filed silly (in this case) charges of inducing panic or similar.
That would be a hard sell, in my opinion. Edited by sbell111
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The last log for this cache by "bombguy", the Bomb Squad Commander of the Butler County Sherrif's Office;

 

Your cache was called in as a suspicious item (possible improvided explosive device). It has been removed and turned over to the Monroe Police Department...

 

bombguy logged it as a find.

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Has anyone ever been arrested/convicted for planting a geocache? :wub:

 

The folk's whose cache led to the Railroad proximity guideline were, I think, and several have been who were looking for caches.

 

I can only think of those two specifically, the one directly in answer to your question and the other related, but I am sure I have heard of more.

 

I am sure more have been arrested for looking than hiding... interesting question, though, as I believe if a cacher is arrested for looking it should in fact be the owner's liability for placing it there.

 

The Arkansas cacher arrested for Criminal Trespass while hunting a cache placed without permision can be read here.

 

Maybe someone else can link you to the California arrest I mentioned, it's been discusssed in numerous threads.

 

Have fun,

Ed

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The folk's whose cache led to the Railroad proximity guideline were, I think, and several have been who were looking for caches.

As I recall, there was graffiti involved that resulted in that arrest.

 

I wish I could find the link. I think cachers were apprehended while looking when a RR Security Guard saw them near the mouth of a tunnel. I think the paint was related to them, but then the cache owner was the one arrested, if I recall correctly.

 

Maybe someone will Markwell it for us.

 

Ed

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The railroad trespassing story is best recounted by reading the logs on the Geo-Court cache page, especially the one to which the link takes you.

 

Turning a negative into a positive, it's great to see an Ohio County tourism board using geocaching to feature points of interest like this historical museum. That comes as no surprise to me, given that the Ohio State Historical Association has its own program for hiding geocaches, and allows others to place caches at its many properties, via a permit process.

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So um who was it that made up bombguy and posted the find? did you really find it or did you just log it to be funny. how many people from that bombsquad became geocachers after that? did the number a cachers grow in that area after the news reported it?

 

wouldn't you know it. this was found by doing a search on Ask.com. look up "Phone Home" (GC942E) first off this was inside Disneyland. Groundspeak says you can not place a cache inside a place that you have to pay to get in. (I know it's For Profit places only you can't do) but the same thing happened. a grounds keeper found it the OC bomb squad was called and it was reported in the OC Register

 

ANAHEIM - The Tomorrowland area of Disneyland opened 30 minutes late this morning after a park landscaper found a suspicious package at the bathrooms near the Autopia ride.

The Orange County sheriff's bomb squad declared the incident a false alarm after deploying a robot equipped with an X-ray that determined the object was not an explosive.

 

"We don't know whether it was an elaborate hoax or just something left behind," said John Nicoletti, Anaheim city spokesman, who was at the scene.

 

The incident did not delay Disneyland's scheduled 9 a.m. opening, but patrons were unable to visit such Tomorrowland attractions as Club Buzz, Innoventions and Starcade until 9:30 a.m.

 

Officials said that the landscaper found the object around 7 a.m. at the bottom of a staircase. He notified security personnel, who in turn called police. Police summoned the bomb squad. :(

 

God Forbid you can't go to Club Buzz at 9AM.

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This cache is not too far from me. It was placed at the Historical Society in Monroe by permission. I haven't heard the exact facts on this yet but I heard the little fellar was hunting for this at night and someone thought him suspicious and called the police. They then encountered the camo box. Last I heard was the police found out it was placed with permission and was in fact going to put it back into its hiding place.

Hey they found a geocache with using a GPS!!!!!!

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wouldn't you know it. this was found by doing a search on Ask.com. look up "Phone Home" (GC942E) first off this was inside Disneyland. Groundspeak says you can not place a cache inside a place that you have to pay to get in. (I know it's For Profit places only you can't do) but the same thing happened. a grounds keeper found it the OC bomb squad was called and it was reported in the OC Register ...

That was a great cache. I'm glad I was able to find it.

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This cache is not too far from me. It was placed at the Historical Society in Monroe by permission. I haven't heard the exact facts on this yet but I heard the little fellar was hunting for this at night and someone thought him suspicious and called the police. They then encountered the camo box. Last I heard was the police found out it was placed with permission and was in fact going to put it back into its hiding place.

Hey they found a geocache with using a GPS!!!!!!

 

That's what's so freakin' sad about this. The caches are placed with permission by the Butler County Tourism Council! SOME one gave permission, and yet people who no clue get all bent out of shape. Yeah...what's in "bombguy"'s log really looks harmful to me. :(

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Here is the cache in question. I have done this cache and it was placed with permission from the Historical Society.

 

BCTC-Monroe Historical Society

 

Even with permission events can occur which damage relationships. Maybe it's time to move this game back into the woods :(

 

Mike

Right on, Mike!

I find the game so much more fun in the woods, i get to enjoy the scenery, long walks, lots of wildlife, and peacefull cache. I will not go to ones at houses, or in a city enviroment. The woods is really where this belongs, then we wont see too many of these cases where whole bomb squads have to go check out a cache. Its nuts these days!

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I am sure more have been arrested for looking than hiding... interesting question, though, as I believe if a cacher is arrested for looking it should in fact be the owner's liability for placing it there.

 

How can you be arrested for looking for a cache? Unless you're trespassing that is, in which case you and the hider deserve a slap upside the head.

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Here is the cache in question. I have done this cache and it was placed with permission from the Historical Society.

 

BCTC-Monroe Historical Society

 

Even with permission events can occur which damage relationships. Maybe it's time to move this game back into the woods :(

 

Mike

 

Another one for the list!

 

I state again...this "list" is a disservice to the geocaching community. While it is true that some placements should have been thought out better, there is no reason to call attention to the fact that some caches are placed according to the guidelines, WITH permission...to no avail.

 

<I am self editting my next comment, as name calling and questioning the intelligence of fellow cachers does NO one any good.>

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Well people here's a link to a TV story done on this. http://www.channelcincinnati.com/video/9733451/index.html

The piece was very nicely done and in my humble opinion will attract more cahers, maybe.

As far as this cache goes I don't think anyone will have to worry about in the next day or two because it will be muggled because if you watch the news video the reporter shows exactly where it is hidden.

You'll have to sit thru the first three stories, there is no way to fast forward thru them. It didn't even rate as number one, two or three, it was four otta five.

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Here's the latest:

 

Channel 5 was at the Historical Society today taping a segment. I just watched it. Geocaching was portrayed in a VERY POSITIVE light. The Monroe Police even left a Monroe Police Department magnet in the cache! The cache has been returned to its hiding place. The reporter showed the container and the geocaching.com web page. The segment ended with "everyone is laughing about it now, even the Monroe Police".

 

A Butler County Tourism Council spokesperson was met by the news folks at Middletown's Bicentennial Commons and showed them that cache and explained the game.

 

Here's the story: http://www.channelcincinnati.com/video/9733451/index.html. Click "play" by the ammo box! I don't know how long the video will be there.

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The "List" needs to be edited to include the fact that the police and the neighbors that were evacuated are now laughing about it; also the police even put some swag in the container before replacing.

 

This one had a good ending. Let's give it some credit in the "List", or remove it from the "List", but don't leave it at "confiscated"!

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I was wondering how long it would take for something like this to happen. I cant count the amount of times I have gotten weird looks from muggles. Although I would probably be a little curious myself, If i saw 2-3 people walking around with an electronic device, looking through bushes and whatnot.

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Here is the cache in question. I have done this cache and it was placed with permission from the Historical Society.

 

BCTC-Monroe Historical Society

 

Even with permission events can occur which damage relationships. Maybe it's time to move this game back into the woods :laughing:

 

Mike

 

Another one for the list!

 

I state again...this "list" is a disservice to the geocaching community. While it is true that some placements should have been thought out better, there is no reason to call attention to the fact that some caches are placed according to the guidelines, WITH permission...to no avail.

 

<I am self editting my next comment, as name calling and questioning the intelligence of fellow cachers does NO one any good.>

 

I'd like to respond to that but it doesn't even make sense. :laughing::laughing:

 

<I am self editting (sic) my next comment, as name-calling and questioning the intelligence of fellow cachers does NO one any good.>

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Here is the cache in question. I have done this cache and it was placed with permission from the Historical Society.

 

BCTC-Monroe Historical Society

 

Even with permission events can occur which damage relationships. Maybe it's time to move this game back into the woods :laughing:

 

Mike

 

Another one for the list!

 

I state again...this "list" is a disservice to the geocaching community. While it is true that some placements should have been thought out better, there is no reason to call attention to the fact that some caches are placed according to the guidelines, WITH permission...to no avail.

 

<I am self editting my next comment, as name calling and questioning the intelligence of fellow cachers does NO one any good.>

 

It happens. Someone sees something and they feel it is a threat and call the police - it will be treated as a threat.

I personally know of one that made it to the "list" that was placed outside a local PD WITH PERMISSION and well to make a long story short it made the list and my geocaching adventure began.

I do not see anything wrong with anything that we do, it was just someone that was concerned and did the right thing.

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Another one for the list!

 

I state again...this "list" is a disservice to the geocaching community. While it is true that some placements should have been thought out better, there is no reason to call attention to the fact that some caches are placed according to the guidelines, WITH permission...to no avail.

 

I disagree. Factual information (and the list appears to be pretty factual) is never a disservice. We need to be aware of this kind of possibility. Hiding this information from geocachers, now, that would be a disservice.

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Another one for the list!

 

I state again...this "list" is a disservice to the geocaching community. While it is true that some placements should have been thought out better, there is no reason to call attention to the fact that some caches are placed according to the guidelines, WITH permission...to no avail.

 

I disagree. Factual information (and the list appears to be pretty factual) is never a disservice. We need to be aware of this kind of possibility. Hiding this information from geocachers, now, that would be a disservice.

Monroe, Ohio. August 23, 2006. The bomb squad was called, fire crews were brought in, and residents evacuated after geocachers were spotted leaving a suspicious container wrapped in camo tape in the bushes outside a historical society museum. The cache was confiscated after being x-rayed and determined to be harmless.

How is this accurate? It's totally misleading! It leaves off the important facts that 1) the cache was on Historical Society property, placed by the Historical Society, 2) the cache has been returned to its hiding place, 3) the police even added some swag, and 4) the local news ran a positive report on the incident.

 

If such a list is going to exist, at least report all the facts.

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Well people here's a link to a TV story done on this. http://www.channelcincinnati.com/video/9733451/index.html

The piece was very nicely done and in my humble opinion will attract more cahers, maybe.

As far as this cache goes I don't think anyone will have to worry about in the next day or two because it will be muggled because if you watch the news video the reporter shows exactly where it is hidden.

You'll have to sit thru the first three stories, there is no way to fast forward thru them. It didn't even rate as number one, two or three, it was four otta five.

 

It took me 3 visits to find that one. If only I had waited until this story, it would have made it so much easier. The reporter showed everyone where it was.

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Factual information (and the list appears to be pretty factual) is never a disservice. We need to be aware of this kind of possibility.

 

Monroe, Ohio. August 23, 2006. The bomb squad was called, fire crews were brought in, and residents evacuated after geocachers were spotted leaving a suspicious container wrapped in camo tape in the bushes outside a historical society museum. The cache was confiscated after being x-rayed and determined to be harmless.

 

How is this accurate? It's totally misleading! It leaves off the important facts that 1) the cache was on Historical Society property, placed by the Historical Society, 2) the cache has been returned to its hiding place, 3) the police even added some swag, and 4) the local news ran a positive report on the incident.

 

If such a list is going to exist, at least report all the facts.

 

When I said "the list appears to be pretty factual", what I meant was "the list appears to be pretty factual". Not "every item in the list is 100% accurate". I'm sure that if you spent the time to pick all the nits, plenty of errors could be found in it. The incident was only reported a day ago, so some of the facts that you outline may well not have been available to the list owner when he added the entry.

 

Speaking of the facts that you outlined, they all add up to a nice happy ending, but they don't eliminate the fact that a geocache triggered an apparent bomb scare, and involved the resources of a police department. The happy ending is certainly nice, but that's not necessarily the most relevant or important part of this story.

 

The list is valuable in that it underscores a potentially serious problem facing this hobby. Anything that makes us better aware of such problems - which this list certainly does - is valuable to the geocaching community.

 

One obvious benefit of this list is that it provides a rough statistic with which to answer inevitable comments from non-cachers when they read of such events. The list shows what, 50 incidents? Out of how many caches in the US? Even granting that the list is not exhaustive, if you plug in pretty much any reasonable numbers you'll find that just a tiny fraction of a percent of caches have led to such problems. A useful rebuttal to have on hand when facing 'bomb scare' criticism.

Edited by VeryLost
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Factual information (and the list appears to be pretty factual) is never a disservice. We need to be aware of this kind of possibility.

 

Monroe, Ohio. August 23, 2006. The bomb squad was called, fire crews were brought in, and residents evacuated after geocachers were spotted leaving a suspicious container wrapped in camo tape in the bushes outside a historical society museum. The cache was confiscated after being x-rayed and determined to be harmless.

 

How is this accurate? It's totally misleading! It leaves off the important facts that 1) the cache was on Historical Society property, placed by the Historical Society, 2) the cache has been returned to its hiding place, 3) the police even added some swag, and 4) the local news ran a positive report on the incident.

 

If such a list is going to exist, at least report all the facts.

 

When I said "the list appears to be pretty factual", what I meant was "the list appears to be pretty factual". Not "every item in the list is 100% accurate". I'm sure that if you spent the time to pick all the nits, plenty of errors could be found in it. The incident was only reported a day ago, so some of the facts that you outline may well not have been available to the list owner when he added the entry.

Which is exactly why that list is NOT helpful. It is incomplete, and NOT revised to show the facts that develop after he makes the initial entry.

 

Speaking of the facts that you outlined, they all add up to a nice happy ending, but they don't eliminate the fact that a geocache triggered an apparent bomb scare, and involved the resources of a police department. The happy ending is certainly nice, but that's not necessarily the most relevant or important part of this story.

 

The list is valuable in that it underscores a potentially serious problem facing this hobby. Anything that makes us better aware of such problems - which this list certainly does - is valuable to the geocaching community.

 

One obvious benefit of this list is that it provides a rough statistic with which to answer inevitable comments from non-cachers when they read of such events. The list shows what, 50 incidents? Out of how many caches in the US? Even granting that the list is not exhaustive, if you plug in pretty much any reasonable numbers you'll find that just a tiny fraction of a percent of caches have led to such problems. A useful rebuttal to have on hand when facing 'bomb scare' criticism.

 

The other pathetic fact is that when the maker of the list can't defend the list, he resorts to pointing out a spelling error. THAT's useful.... :laughing:

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Here is the cache in question. I have done this cache and it was placed with permission from the Historical Society.

 

BCTC-Monroe Historical Society

 

Even with permission events can occur which damage relationships. Maybe it's time to move this game back into the woods ;)

 

Mike

Right on, Mike!

I find the game so much more fun in the woods, i get to enjoy the scenery, long walks, lots of wildlife, and peacefull cache. I will not go to ones at houses, or in a city enviroment. The woods is really where this belongs, then we wont see too many of these cases where whole bomb squads have to go check out a cache. Its nuts these days!

And if you cannot do long walks in the woods, then at least you can do guardrail micros that show you a pretty view in the woods. :o

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Factual information (and the list appears to be pretty factual) is never a disservice. We need to be aware of this kind of possibility.

 

Monroe, Ohio. August 23, 2006. The bomb squad was called, fire crews were brought in, and residents evacuated after geocachers were spotted leaving a suspicious container wrapped in camo tape in the bushes outside a historical society museum. The cache was confiscated after being x-rayed and determined to be harmless.

 

How is this accurate? It's totally misleading! It leaves off the important facts that 1) the cache was on Historical Society property, placed by the Historical Society, 2) the cache has been returned to its hiding place, 3) the police even added some swag, and 4) the local news ran a positive report on the incident.

 

If such a list is going to exist, at least report all the facts.

 

When I said "the list appears to be pretty factual", what I meant was "the list appears to be pretty factual". Not "every item in the list is 100% accurate". I'm sure that if you spent the time to pick all the nits, plenty of errors could be found in it. The incident was only reported a day ago, so some of the facts that you outline may well not have been available to the list owner when he added the entry.

Which is exactly why that list is NOT helpful. It is incomplete, and NOT revised to show the facts that develop after he makes the initial entry.

 

Speaking of the facts that you outlined, they all add up to a nice happy ending, but they don't eliminate the fact that a geocache triggered an apparent bomb scare, and involved the resources of a police department. The happy ending is certainly nice, but that's not necessarily the most relevant or important part of this story.

 

The list is valuable in that it underscores a potentially serious problem facing this hobby. Anything that makes us better aware of such problems - which this list certainly does - is valuable to the geocaching community.

 

One obvious benefit of this list is that it provides a rough statistic with which to answer inevitable comments from non-cachers when they read of such events. The list shows what, 50 incidents? Out of how many caches in the US? Even granting that the list is not exhaustive, if you plug in pretty much any reasonable numbers you'll find that just a tiny fraction of a percent of caches have led to such problems. A useful rebuttal to have on hand when facing 'bomb scare' criticism.

 

The other pathetic fact is that when the maker of the list can't defend the list, he resorts to pointing out a spelling error. THAT's useful.... :o

 

I do revise the list when I have time and when relevent facts are brought to my attention. Nobody bothered to email me with any additional information per my explicit request in the list description.

 

And, FYI, I wasn't JUST pointing out a spelling error. I honestly don't understand what you were trying to say in your post. It doesn't make sense! Try rereading what you wrote and work at expressing yourself a little better instead of making snide remarks.

 

It's obvious that you don't like the list and that's fine. I know it's not perfect (and I say so in the list description) but I think it's a useful resource for answering some of the questions brought up in this thread. If you have got the idea that it is intended to be critical of caches that got blown up or the persons that hid them, you're way off base. It's just a list.

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When I said "the list appears to be pretty factual", what I meant was "the list appears to be pretty factual". Not "every item in the list is 100% accurate". I'm sure that if you spent the time to pick all the nits, plenty of errors could be found in it. The incident was only reported a day ago, so some of the facts that you outline may well not have been available to the list owner when he added the entry.
That list can be used as a tool to identify geocaching as a problem. The owner of the list has the responsibility to the game to make sure that it accurately portrays the issues at hand.
Speaking of the facts that you outlined, they all add up to a nice happy ending, but they don't eliminate the fact that a geocache triggered an apparent bomb scare, and involved the resources of a police department. The happy ending is certainly nice, but that's not necessarily the most relevant or important part of this story.

 

The list is valuable in that it underscores a potentially serious problem facing this hobby. Anything that makes us better aware of such problems - which this list certainly does - is valuable to the geocaching community.

I disagree that the list identifies any problem in the game. How can a piece of tupperware in the bush that is removed by the authorities for no other reason than a muggle overreacted be a problem for anyone but the cache owner? Most of the caches identified were placed with permission or in a place that most would agree did not require permission.

 

One obvious benefit of this list is that it provides a rough statistic with which to answer inevitable comments from non-cachers when they read of such events. ...
Statistics of what? Instances that a muggle overreacted?
I do revise the list when I have time and when relevent facts are brought to my attention. Nobody bothered to email me with any additional information per my explicit request in the list description.
It's incumbent on the owner of the list to do the research necessary to make sure it's factual. We shouldn't have to follow behind to make sure that it is accurate.
...It's obvious that you don't like the list and that's fine. I know it's not perfect (and I say so in the list description) but I think it's a useful resource for answering some of the questions brought up in this thread. If you have got the idea that it is intended to be critical of caches that got blown up or the persons that hid them, you're way off base. It's just a list.
A list that could be used against the hobby. <Insert SC comment here.> Edited by sbell111
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Monroe, Ohio. August 23, 2006. The bomb squad was called, fire crews were brought in, and residents evacuated after geocachers were spotted leaving a suspicious container wrapped in camo tape in the bushes outside a historical society museum. The cache was confiscated after being x-rayed and determined to be harmless.
The article linked by the OP quoted the dispatcher as saying the container was wrapped in duct tape. Why do people wrap caches in duct tape? It does nothing for the container, and only makes non-cachers suspicious and think it's a bomb. Of course, anything you can put explosives into could be a bomb.
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Gotta call "bull" on that last post. Quest Master, your first post to this thread, saying you added the cache to your list, came AFTER the posts which identified the cache, and that it was placed with permission by the County Tourism group.

 

Or do you not even read the threads that you post to?

 

What are you calling "bull" on? I read the news story and exerpted the information from that into the list. I do not feel a need to report that the cache was placed with permission because that information is one click away and it does not change the fact that the bomb squad responded to the incident. I have since updated the description to include the fact that the cache was put back because that information was not known to me until later. If somebody had emailed me with that information instead of posting it to this thread, I might have gotten to it sooner.

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