Just where do missing TBs go?

[+WoodlandAlliance]

How do they just vanish? In caches they were put there a few months ago and now, gone. What happened?

[+mfamilee]

There are many possibilities.

 

Just to name a few... perhaps a cacher picked one up & forgot about it, someone took it because they liked whatever item was attached to it, a muggle found the cache. It's disappointing, but nothing really can be done about it other than cross your fingers if the TB is yours.

[+Eartha]

• Cacher actually forgot to physically drop it, but they don't realize it yet and logged it anyway.
  
• Fell into bottom of the black hole known as a "backpack".
  
• Kids loved the little toy and grabbed it while Mom or Dad was signing the log.
  
• Person who took it didn't know how to log it and took it to another cache anyway.
  
• Newbies, didn't know it wasn't swag.
  
• Cache was muggled/flooded/stolen/burnt/crushed by bulldozer and replaced, but the Trackables were never marked missing.
  
• Cacher took it, put it in another cache and forgot to write down the tracking number before they dropped it.
  
• The person who went to the cache 5 minutes before you took it.
  
• The person who placed it was dipping, and hasn't finished their logging, they still have it.
  
• Tag and hitchhiker were separated.
  
• It's laying on the ground near the cache, covered by leaves, because it fell out of the cache when the dog knocked it over and no one noticed.
  
• It was logged into the wrong cache, it's in the one 528+ feet away.
  
• The person who took it had an accident on the way home and never got a chance to log it yet.
  
• The owner thought it would be a good idea to store their personal trackables in an active cache to keep them out of their inventory list. They are safe at home with them.
  
• The dog ate it.
  
• Insert your own scenario here________________________.
  

[+bartrod]

How do they just vanish? In caches they were put there a few months ago and now, gone. What happened?

 

Good questions, Joey. And the Lord only knows. I have/had 9 trackables: 5 tbs and 4 gcs. Two of the tbs simply disappeared from caches last summer and haven't been seen since. One of the gcs along with a number of other trackables disappeared from the cache it was originally placed in in May. Another gc is in the hands of a newby for over a year who hasn't responded to e-mail requests My latest gc is in my hands and its going to stay in my hands...I'm just dipping that one as I go. So, 4 out of 8 that are on the road have disappeared...I don't know if that's the average, but I don't know that I'll start any more. It's disappointing and frustrating I voiced my concern in the forums before...Eartha has heard me vent...and if you're considering sending some on the road, definitely try it but don't be surprised at their low survival rate. Good luck

 

P.S. Read this thread if you'd like to increase your survival rate: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=64691

Edited August 3, 2009 by bartrod