Did A Geocacher Find This?

[Jeremy]

I'm wondering if a geocacher found this skull since we usually visit areas others don't go to that often.

[Moun10Bike]

I saw that on the news this morning and wondered the same thing.

[+xy,xx,xy,xy,xy,xy]

According to GC.com maps, the only cache in watershed park was archived 10/16/04: Watershed Park

[+travisl]

I saw that on the news this morning and wondered the same thing.

I was wondering this morning how many cachers were close to finding it but didn't. This was the first stop we had on the Snolympia Cache Machine.

 

KOMO radio this morning said that police suspected it was a guy who was killed and dismembered two years ago. They'd found the rest of his parts, but not his noggin.

 

Good thing The Jester's found this one the same day and survived, else I'd fear he'd go the same as poor Yorick: a fellow of infinite jest, but not one now to mock his own grinning.

[+Kfam]

There is an awesome multicache that gets a hunter very familiar with this park.

I could have used an extra head while searching there!

[SilverLynx]

Reminds me of the 'Kinnewick (sp?) man' skeleton they found in Washington state years ago. They thought it was someone who got murdered and dumped, until they found out the bones were several thousand years old and caucasian, which cause quite an uproar in the area.

[+sharp88]

They thought the same thing with the "Ice Man" in Northern Italy.

[+OccidentalErrant]

I'm wondering if a geocacher found this skull since we usually visit areas others don't go to that often.

 

--------------------

 

Jeremy Irish

Groundspeak - The Language of Location™

 

Hmm,, Just some thoughts.. I don't know if a cacher found that or not.. but I do know that people go missing all the time and it would go without saying that geocachers may run into items like this along the geocaching trail.

 

Right now, at least in this area, Brooke Willberger is still missing for 9 months now and nobody has found what may be left. Last night in the news they reported that they are seeking a similar black sweatshirt she was wearing when she disappeared. Asking the public if anyone has a similar one so they can compare fibers to get a match if they do find a 'body'..

 

It would go without saying that if a geocacher did find any body anywhere they would report it to authorities. We all should be looking for her even in the broader geological area of the Pacific Northwest. It is possible for a geocacher to find her, given the fact that we do trek into untrod areas.

 

Just some thoughts though.

[+Mr. Snazz]

People sometimes take their dogs jogging "cross country" through parks and find stuff like this. There was a Cold Case Files (the real cases one, not the primetime drama) episode on a while back where a man found a skull in a park and kept it.

[+Ajetpilot]

It would go without saying that if a geocacher did find any body anywhere they would report it to authorities.

 

You think so? Check out this quote from another thread:

 

That reminds me of the dead body I discovered (almost tripped over ) in a Seattle park last year while searching for a cache.

 

I was so intently watching the GPSr that I didn't notice anything was amiss until Scooter the Wonder Dog stopped suddenly ahead of me and started growling. At that point I looked up and saw what appeared to be a homeless person, sprawled out in the trail and obviously no longer with the living.

 

I was pretty panicked, so I just turned and headed back to the car -- but not before a momentary temptation to grab the cache that I could see just beyond him

 

When I got back to my car, I noticed a drug transaction going on in the vehicle next to mine including visible guns, so I really freaked then and just drove off. I probably should have stayed and called 911, but the combination of the body and the druggies......

[+OccidentalErrant]

You think so? Check out this quote from another thread:

 

That reminds me of the dead body I discovered (almost tripped over ) in a Seattle park last year while searching for a cache.

 

I was so intently watching the GPSr that I didn't notice anything was amiss until Scooter the Wonder Dog stopped suddenly ahead of me and started growling. At that point I looked up and saw what appeared to be a homeless person, sprawled out in the trail and obviously no longer with the living.

 

I was pretty panicked, so I just turned and headed back to the car -- but not before a momentary temptation to grab the cache that I could see just beyond him

 

When I got back to my car, I noticed a drug transaction going on in the vehicle next to mine including visible guns, so I really freaked then and just drove off. I probably should have stayed and called 911, but the combination of the body and the druggies......

 

Yeah,, I read that in the other thread too. But that was a fresh body. The cacher was right to vacate the area (irregardless of the drug deal going down in the parking lot). For all he knew, 'the killer'? may have still been in the area.

 

But then report the finding later, which as I recall he didn't? I figure it this way, If I didn't do the killing.. I have nothing to hide. The burden of proof is on the police and I can always make an anonymous tip.

[+Stump]

There is an awesome multicache that gets a hunter very familiar with this park.

What multi-cache is that?

[+slinger91]

Saw this on KOMO:

 

OLYMPIA - Bones found in a park in Olympia have been identified as those of a teenager who ran away from a hospital nearly nine years ago.

 

Investigators say they now face a daunting task in trying to determine the cause of death of 15-year-old Katrina Nash of Olympia.

 

sad.

[+Puppers]

I'm sorry to say that as a geocacher, I had a similiar but unfortunate experience while geocaching solo in Sacramento over the President's Day weekend (a cache called "Jenny's Tribulation" which has since been archived). On my way back from the cache on the muddy triail (in the pouring rain) I saw a fork in the trail and when I looked left, saw what I first thought was a duffle bag hanging by a thick yellow rope. Once I registered it was a person I ran back to my car, locked the doors, and called 911. Once the medics arrived (ahead of the police) I had to lead them back to the spot and they confirmed what I feared. Fast forward ahead to statements made to the fire department, and then police...and when I spoke with a Sacramento detective a few days later (my last contact, to date, with the police) I was told that the case was classified as a suicide, but that it would be another 30days or so before the autopsy and lab work would be complete.

 

Why am I sharing this story? Only to say that geocaching does take you to some remote areas, and the risks of a negative "experience" are there. I can also say that you never will know how you will react until presented with the situation. I have thought many times since that I should have gone to the guy, to see if he was still alive (and maybe cut him down, even though I didn't have a knife?), but chose to run. I know my fear at the time was not knowing whether it was a suicide or homicide, but that doesn't answer all of the "what ifs". Who knows if those few minutes made a difference?

 

What is especially spooky is that the previous geocachers of the day remember this fork, and looking to the left, and seeing nothing unusual. And that was a scant 2 hours before my encounter.

 

I was glad that the cache placer chose to archive the cache, given the circumstances. And I can say nothing but positive things about the Sacramento geocaching community, who reached out to me with tremendous caring and support.

 

Am I turned off of geocaching? Not really, since I know (intellectually) that I could have been in this park for another reason. But still, it makes me wary caching alone, as a female. Conscious or not, since that time I've made a clear effort to avoid remote solo caching, which is ironic since I've never been a fan of urban caching. Unfortunately having an experience like this probably taints you for life.

 

Thanks for hearing my story,

Cristy, the female half of "Puppers"

 

P.S. It's interesting to note that the Seattle Times ran an article the other day saying that there are more suicides in this country than homicides. Guess you just don't realize it because they aren't "news"? In fact, when I spoke with that Sacramento detective he said "Oh, it won't be in the Sacramento Bee, we had 5 or 6 other suicides that weekend". Rather sad, actually.

[+evergreenhiker!]

Well, suicide is definitely out there. I personally known a couple of people who tried to kill themselves...thankfully they didn't and are ok today. I'm not sure how I would react if I actually found a body out there. Speaking of Sacramento, I have family down there so i'm sure I'll hit caches down there at some point.

Edited March 4, 2005 by evergreenhiker!

[+Prying Pandora]

Cristy, I'm sorry you had to witness that. Unfortunately, suicide is a more widespread problem than most people realize, and it affects many more people than the person committing the act.

[+normandcat]

Hi all,

 

Aadenny and I were in the park and completed a difficult multi-cache that day just before the scull was discovered. The originating point for this cache is found at the endpoint of another multi. That’s why it won’t show up on the GeoCaching map. We finished the day less than 100 yards from the discovery point of the scull at around 3:00pm and there had still been no activity on-site.

 

I live about a tenth of a mile from the entrance to and grew up in the area of the park. When I heard it on the radio the next morning was definitely creeped-out. It’s a horrible shame that this person ended up here.

 

-Dwight

[+Pasha]

From the OP article:

Now more than 42 years later her son Ty believes she was murdered and buried in the Kent Valley. He is about to dig where ground-penetrating radar indicates a possible gravesite.

 

Considering I've been doing lots of caching in the Kent Valley, that's kinda creepy in itself. I was in an area today that was completely remote even though less than 100 yards from a highway, and was thinking as I searched about the Green River Killer and where all his victims were found and so forth. Shiver.