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The Best Geocache in Minnesota - Confiscated by the Cops


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Stumbling across a fairly realistic coffin in the woods is dubious "fun" at best. I think "call the cops" would be my first thought as well.

 

"Fairly realistic"? Not in the last 150 years. See the photos below of the casket for sale and compare with this one.

 

Oh, I know, I know. But I was just thinking that to the average Joe Muggle out wandering in the woods a coffin is a coffin, no matter that it looks like something from The Munsters.

 

Anyway, glad to see that all is ending well. I would probably enjoy such a cache. This saga reminds me of the time my father was out late at night raccoon hunting and came across a man hanging from a tree. It turned out to be a dummy strung up by a group of Boy Scouts (apparently a little confused about what constitutes a "good deed" :D), but at the moment all he could think was, "Dead person. Murder. Load gun. Call in dogs. Walk away quietly and quickly."

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I would definitely hesitate opening a coffin found in the woods, and would absolutely would call the police. (snip)

 

The last people in the world I would call would be the cops. Whoever heard of taking care of things yourself? Usually you get them involved and look out - they will get YOU for something for making them work. But I grew up in the inner city so what do I know? :P

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I really don't want to ruin the photo of the casket. I'm sure that what ever is cooked up in my head is better than what it is. If I got the number for it, would some call. I want to know, but then again, I'm not sure I do. I may be disappointed. If not I may have found my next cache container. :rolleyes:

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I really don't want to ruin the photo of the casket. I'm sure that what ever is cooked up in my head is better than what it is. If I got the number for it, would some call. I want to know, but then again, I'm not sure I do. I may be disappointed. If not I may have found my next cache container. :lol:

 

:rolleyes::):laughing:;)

 

I'll take two of whatever Parabola just had. :o

Edited by knowschad
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Interesting thread with some interesting viewpoints.

 

I'm glad the CO is getting his very creative cache container back. I hope he's able to find a way to use it again in the future.

 

I have to feel however that the muggles in question really did nothing wrong. The police department however may have taken things too far by trying to find some way to bring a charge.

 

I know that some in this thread might walk up to a wonderful surprise like a period casket and just whip it open to see what's inside. I however as a muggle would probably have reacted in the same manner.

 

I wish I could say that it's just innocent fun and that everyone should just pass by and laugh, or read the inscription before reacting. But that's not our society. People won't read the sign at the express lane and take 2 seconds to realize they have 50 items in the 10 items or less line much less consider that they can only write a check when it clearly says cash only. Why would we expect an unsuspecting muggle to calmly start looking on the casket for 'more information' before grabbing their cell phone?

 

Idea for the CO: Use this cache container as the final for a Halloween series again - only this time make it a seasonal cache that will only be available during the halloween season. Maybe work with a local haunted house and have the casket out front with a combo lock on it. The series could give cachers the final coordinates and combination to open the cache in plain sight of muggles attending the haunted house. Cachers could be asked to pretend to mourn and shrug off questions from muggles while logging their final find leaving attendees wondering what the heck. . . All in a safe controlled environment where the container can be collected and recycled next year. Just an idea. . . why not. . . ? Could make a great photo opportunity for the CO and the local LEOs.

 

Legend? Maybe - this one could be traveling with the OCB someday. . .

Edited by andynshe
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I really don't want to ruin the photo of the casket. I'm sure that what ever is cooked up in my head is better than what it is. If I got the number for it, would some call. I want to know, but then again, I'm not sure I do. I may be disappointed. If not I may have found my next cache container. :)

 

Um...Why does the color blue taste like feet???

:D:):D:anibad::anibad::D

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I really don't want to ruin the photo of the casket. I'm sure that what ever is cooked up in my head is better than what it is. If I got the number for it, would some call. I want to know, but then again, I'm not sure I do. I may be disappointed. If not I may have found my next cache container. :P

 

Um...Why does the color blue taste like feet???

:huh::lol::huh::mad::o:P

Because 42 is the answer. :D

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Hopefully "Geo. Cache" will be returned....perhaps with some police type swag for trading - pictures of him behind bars, "driving" a police car, wearing a police hat, police stickers. Great publicity for geocaching, but I bet that poor muggle feels silly now they are over their shock! Thanks for sharing this story.

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It seems that a couple of muggles accidentally stumbled across a coffin in the woods, and instead of going along with the fun, reported it to the Dakota County Sheriffs Department. Officials immediately went into CYA mode, and hauled the cache out.

 

Stumbling across a fairly realistic coffin in the woods is dubious "fun" at best. I think "call the cops" would be my first thought as well.

 

But it's great that the police have a sense of hmour about it. So, any finds logged at the new coords yet?

 

Since a coffin in the woods fit's no criminal MO I've ever seen that leaves "other" for what it may be. #1 on my list would be "hmmm...a Halloween prop must have been left behind when they were done with the area".

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...

The "case" has finally been dropped after a couple of weeks of the officer in charge of the case trying his best to find some sort of charge to bring. The cache owner has been told that he can pick the cache up later this week and that no charges will be filed.

 

The office should have just laughed it off. Why even bother to try and find a charge for fun?

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......but, put yourselves in the muggle shoes for a while...all you know is you just came across a coffin in the woods......Murphy's Law-If something can go wrong it will...and here it did...simple as that....

 

Any muggle with a brain would think it was a halloween prop. Heck it was a halloween prop. Today maybe even a Goth/Emo thing.

 

I don't expect most folks to know the criminal mind, but if they follow the news at all (depressing as it is) I doubt they have ever heard of a body being dumped in any kind of coffin ever.

 

That said you are 100% right about murphey's law, and were that my cache I'd have worked with the park (don't know if the owner did or didn't) because it is so different than a normal container. (However if I had a mere skull prop I'd not do anything out of the ordinary).

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I'm not blasting anyone, but to understand my OP... there's another cache in that same park that consists of a toilet seat attached to the top of a low, hollow tree stump. Open up the toilet seat and the cache container is revealed. Could anyone in their right mind think that this is a real toilet (real coffin) out here in the woods?

 

Maybe I'm just a little more adventuresome than most, but even if I stumbled across a real coffin (like the one in previous posts) in a county park, I'd look inside before I called the cops. If my inspection revealed a plastic skeleton, I'd call no one.

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I'm not blasting anyone, but to understand my OP... there's another cache in that same park that consists of a toilet seat attached to the top of a low, hollow tree stump. Open up the toilet seat and the cache container is revealed.

 

:D (shhhhhh!!) :laughing:

 

:laughing:

 

Yeah, and with a great title, too! That'll also probably be gone soon, though. Replaced by a film cannister.

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Maybe I'm just a little more adventuresome than most, but even if I stumbled across a real coffin in a county park, I'd look inside before I called the cops.

Maybe that's why you're a geocacher and not a muggle?

A sense of adventure? Likes to play outdoors?

I'm thinking you've got all the markings. :laughing:

 

I doubt there's anyone in here who would've called the cops, having stumbled across that cache.

However, there are a few folks who are bright enough to realize that their way of thinking and looking at the world is not the only way.

The next logical step in that process is coming to an understanding that, in certain circumstances, some folks are not going to behave like we would.

Heck, some folks might even <gasp!> Call The Cops, if they stumbled across a coffin in the woods. :D

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Usually you get them involved and look out - they will get YOU for something for making them work.

Paranoia gone wild? :)

 

No - it is called experience! ;)

Interesting. Let's discuss your "experience".

How many times have you involved law enforcement in things?

Of that total number, how many times were you arrested?

Since you use the term "usually", I would expect that it would be at least 51%, right?

Care to share the details?

 

Your disdain for law enforcement in general makes the rest of your paranoid ravings suspect at best.

 

Post script: Forgot to add the requisite cute emoticon. :D

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I think that the topic has gotten way off course.

True. A Geocaching forum is not typically an appropriate place for overt paranoia and cop bashing.

Glad to see you got your toe pincher back! Wish I lived closer so I could find the next evolution.

 

LOL! The "next evolution" was going to be a full-sized "guillotine", complete with a basket of severed heads, from what I have heard. I suspect the plans have since been scaled down a bit.

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Hrm, this thread is like deja vous... Took longer than I expected but it still happened.

 

I've built a lot of cool cache containers over the years. Here's the crowning jewel to my Halloween 2008 series Halloween 2008 BONUS: Coughin Up A Lung (GC1H32A).

 

To learn more about it's construction, visit the BLOG at Bart's BLOG.

That looks like a police visit waiting to happen. I hope you have permission and/or it's on private land...
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Hrm, this thread is like deja vous... Took longer than I expected but it still happened.

 

I've built a lot of cool cache containers over the years. Here's the crowning jewel to my Halloween 2008 series Halloween 2008 BONUS: Coughin Up A Lung (GC1H32A).

 

To learn more about it's construction, visit the BLOG at Bart's BLOG.

That looks like a police visit waiting to happen. I hope you have permission and/or it's on private land...

 

Yeah, we were trying to avoid the 4th grade level "I told you so". Fact is, after all said and done, even the coppers thought the entire fiasco was a joke.

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Hrm, this thread is like deja vous... Took longer than I expected but it still happened.

 

I've built a lot of cool cache containers over the years. Here's the crowning jewel to my Halloween 2008 series Halloween 2008 BONUS: Coughin Up A Lung (GC1H32A).

 

To learn more about it's construction, visit the BLOG at Bart's BLOG.

That looks like a police visit waiting to happen. I hope you have permission and/or it's on private land...

 

Why did you even bother saying that? This was a bold, but great cache. If it were in your area, you, like 100% of the cachers in my area, would be completely supportive of it. Permission questions have already been spoken to. Please, don't get antagonistic about the hide... you'd be envious if it were in your neighborhood.

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Usually you get them involved and look out - they will get YOU for something for making them work.

Paranoia gone wild? :)

 

No - it is called experience! :D

Interesting. Let's discuss your "experience".

How many times have you involved law enforcement in things?

Of that total number, how many times were you arrested?

Since you use the term "usually", I would expect that it would be at least 51%, right?

Care to share the details?

 

Your disdain for law enforcement in general makes the rest of your paranoid ravings suspect at best.

 

Post script: Forgot to add the requisite cute emoticon. :D

 

Look, I know you are an officer. I respect you for that. My father died when I was 13 - I moved back to the inner city and the next 15 years was a terror. I am ashamed of my past but it IS MY PAST now. I have been clean since 1987. I have been a treasurer of a church for the past 18 years. My total arrests are many but look up my record and you will find nothing. YO'd a few times, ACDs many times and few sealed. I am not proud of this but it is the truth. I did not play the game well and called a spade a spade.

 

My cousin was the chief of Detectives of the Erie County Sheriff's department (NY) for many years and is now a Chief of Police in a college town MD. A very good friend of mine is in the Buffalo Police Department. These eyes have seen much. When I was 18 (legal drinking age) a Buffalo Police Officer pulled up in front of a house I was sitting on the front porch of, he said hey Frank and open beer eh? Thanks, and came and took the whole case I just bought. Before pulling away he grabbed one, opened it up, took a big drink and then smiling as he looked at me, thanks Frank - my favorite kind. I have many stories I could tell of such stuff but NO ONE would believe them. But truth nonetheless. Oh ya, like how my cousin gets away with driving on the interstates at 100 plus MPH when he travels hmmm.

 

Like I said - I am very clean today - I am respectful with any one of those in authority that I come in contact with BUT please do not insult my intelligence and say that there is not tons of shenanigans pulled by the "Brotherhood." Like my good friend in the BPD - hey Joe what do you do with the fireworks you conficate during the 4th season - Frank, I take them home and blow them off myself. Many times with LEO's it is who you know and not what you know.

 

You know exactly what I am talking about - you are in the "Brotherhood." I am not against you - I respect your position - but the hardness of the job is not license for the shenanigans that are pulled by the "Brotherhood."

 

Don't even get me started about the Union aspects of it.

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Somehow I knew there was a personal angle to your ravings. Thanx for clarifying.

For the record, just because your cousin had/has no business wearing a badge, doesn't mean that the majority of cops are vindictive, as indicated by your "they will get you" comment or lazy, as indicated by your "they need their rest" comment. Your emotions are obviously clouding your judgement, but I assume you're OK with that.

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No, I am not okay with that for it is not true. REALITY is making my judgment, nothing is clouded. The brotherhood lives on in your denial of it.

 

Note: I have no spite, no anger, no disdain in my postings on this subject. I only point out what YOU KNOW is true, but could never admit.

 

BTW I enjoy reading your posts about geocaching and will continue to do so.

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Hrm, this thread is like deja vous... Took longer than I expected but it still happened.

 

I've built a lot of cool cache containers over the years. Here's the crowning jewel to my Halloween 2008 series Halloween 2008 BONUS: Coughin Up A Lung (GC1H32A).

 

To learn more about it's construction, visit the BLOG at Bart's BLOG.

That looks like a police visit waiting to happen. I hope you have permission and/or it's on private land...

 

Why did you even bother saying that? This was a bold, but great cache. If it were in your area, you, like 100% of the cachers in my area, would be completely supportive of it. Permission questions have already been spoken to. Please, don't get antagonistic about the hide... you'd be envious if it were in your neighborhood.

 

I think this is an interesting thread for a lot of reasons. Aside from all of the obvious angles that have been covered in great detail in this thread, it clearly defines the Geocachers who I would want to hang out with and the Geocachers who would be the target of my next practical joke.

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No, I am not okay with that for it is not true. REALITY is making my judgment, nothing is clouded. The brotherhood lives on in your denial of it.

I see. So, Denial really is more than a big dang river in Egypt, eh? :)

 

Back on topic: I don't deny the Brotherhood of Law Enforcement. I've been a proud member of that brotherhood most of my working life.

 

(Although, I will suggest that you & I might have different definitions of "Brotherhood")

 

I've arrested cops in the past, and will do so in the future if the need presents itself. Would that disqualify me for membership in your version of Brotherhood? I've been directly responsible for at least two cops having to leave law enforcement, without having them arrested. Would that disqualify me? Your mythical version of Brotherhood seems to imply that cops never speak out against their fellow officers. If that's the so called reality you live in, then yes, your perceptions are rather skewed. While there are a few dinosaurs spread out amongst various law enforcement agencies across the country who practice such foolishness, the vast majority of us laugh at the delusional paranoids who believe this is "how it is" everywhere.

 

Back to addressing one of your earlier points, which you so artfully dodged:

You stated words to the effect of, "If you call the cops, they will get you", and I asked for an analysis of this absurdity.

So far, all you've mentioned is that you've been arrested several times in the past. For argument's sake, let's pretend that number is 10.

Of those 10 arrests, how many involved you calling law enforcement for assistance, and being arrested when they arrived.

Your statement implies that this is the norm, rather than the exception, so I would expect that to be at least 6 out of 10 times.

In comparison, my own arrest stats directly contradict your claims. Out of 146 arrests in the calender year of 2008, 2 involved me arresting the complainant.

(Both were incidents of domestic violence where the husband believed it was his God given right to smack his wife around, and called us when she fought back)

I won't bother you with the math, but it sure seems like a whole lot less than 51%.

So, I ask again, what percentage of your arrests involved you calling the cops?

 

Edit for clarification: My definition of Brotherhood does not, in any fashion, include being part of a Union.

It is my rather biased opinion that one of the main things Unions do is protect ineptitude, which I find intolerable.

Seminole County does not have a Union. If they somehow obtain one while I'm still there, I will not join it.

 

Edit to add: I think you & I have dragged this thread far enough off topic. Why don't we take this to PMs if there's anything further to discuss?

Edited by Clan Riffster
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I just suggest we let this die too. You are a rare bird in law enforcement Clan. I respect and honor what you do. But you are NOT the norm in my experience. My experience mostly was with the City of Buffalo Police which had major problems. I am glad you feel about unions the way you do. It is obvious the usefulness is overshadowed by the corruption (for lack of a better word).

 

The out to get you comment I made was more based on my personality of taking care of things myself and should not have been said - I admit that.

 

My idea of the brotherhood is more than the blue shield that you say is laughed at now - it has more to do with what is allowed. Tickets for friends not given etc. that is what I was referring to.Things that are winked upon for the connected but not joe public.

 

I have way more respect and admiration for you (as a LEO) than my cheap comments made me out to be.

 

Please read this log and let me know what you think of this situation - just curious (it is my home town):

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...70-faab285f0166

Edited by Frank Broughton
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you'd be envious if it were in your neighborhood.

I know I would be! I think that really sets the bar for creative cache building.

That would be the cache I brought newbs out to, to show them just how kewl the game can be.

 

We are indeed fortunate to have some very creative cachers in this area. Bflentje is certainly one of them.

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Please read this log and let me know what you think of this situation - just curious (it is my home town)

Very odd. I hope Dr Evil took his complaint up the chain of command all the way to the head honcho.

I can't comment on the tow, as I'm not familiar with the laws in that area.

If the treatment he claims to have received is true, I'd say the officers involved behaved poorly.

Even an axe murderer can be treated with a modicum of courtesy.

I believe there's always at least two sides to every story. I'd love to hear the other side.

It seems the other 47 people who found the cache somehow managed to do so without having their cars towed.

I will offer bonus kewl points to Dr Evil for driving what looks like a 4 wheel drive Mazda RX-7 :)

Edited by Clan Riffster
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I would definitely hesitate opening a coffin found in the woods, and would absolutely would call the police.

 

The sheriff dept and the hikers did nothing wrong and this is not a case of, "if you see, something, say something" gone way to far.

Its a coffin folks, perhaps things may have been different if permission were granted for the oversized cache by hte parks dept., the coffin were camo'd or maybe marking the coffin with GEOCACHE CONTAINER- NO HARM would have been beneficial.

I agree with this. A geocaching sticker on the outside would have helped the cachers. Non-cachers? :laughing:

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Just to let you know, Bart (the coffin builder) inspired me to place a Halloween themed cache out on the Luce Line Trail, west of the Twin Cities. It's a styrofoam skull with a fake meat cleaver buried in its forehead. Lots of fake blood! It is cleverly named, Splitting hairs.

 

I didn't place a geocaching sticker on its forehead, so I hope no one calls the cops and reports a human skull hidden in the woods. <_<

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Hey, CR. I don't trust cops, either. I've never been in trouble, but I've been treated very badly more than once. Once when I was 35 and very cleancut, I got my nose broken into the roof of my car by a county sheriff's deputy. Why? Because I calmly repeated "I do not give consent to search. Am I free to go?" while he was in my face screaming at me how refusing consent is probable cause. (wrong)

 

Guess what? No witness, no dashboard cam, nothing was done about it. I was told by the supervisor that I was lucky I didn't get arrested for resisting arrest... how can I be resisting arrest when I wasn't resisting, nor under arrest?

 

That's not the only bad experience, just the worst one. In another, I was handcuffed, seated in mud, and searched (my car looked like I had been robbed and ransacked, and several items of mine were damaged/destroyed) with no consent nor PC. The dog didn't hit and they did this crap anyway. I unequivocally denied consent. They found nothing and I wasn't even given a ticket for the stop. These were Drug Task Force bullies dressed like swat for intimidation purposes.

 

As a volunteer firefighter, I can remember twice at accident scenes where cops had to be told by a FD officer to get off of a scene until the medical was finished. They would get so intense of controlling everyone at the scene, that they interfered with our guys caring for a patient.

 

I will never trust a cop in uniform ever again. I am careful to avoid contact with law enforcement. I would hesitate to report a crime to the police.

 

I am sure that I'm not the only one. Please notice in no way have I painted all cops with this same brush, but unfortunately, you guys aren't made to wear signs or anything to ID who the roid-raging control freak bullies are. Until that happens, I fear any encounter with the police.

Edited by Okiebryan
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That may be a grill. There is a hearse club in my area that meets in Hell, Michigan and they have a coffin that has been made into a grill and they tow it on a trailer just like that.

Drag 'em in my yard and throw on the grill

Vater can't wait to taste that dead body kill

Slap on a good, Cajun dry rub.

Few hours later... MMM GRUB

Tastes like chicken finger lickin good

So I invite the whole neighborhood

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So... the cache was hidden with permission, right? <_<

That was my first thought...

 

Hidden with as much permission as the other 50+ caches (plus a number of puzzle cache finals) that are in that park. Dakota County has so far been one of the few counties around here that has officially taken a "no policy" stance on geocaching. Permission was more than adequate for the situation.

 

Apparently not.

 

Permission might have been "more than adequate" for a piece of Tupperware. But not for a full-size coffin.

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