+LuLilac Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 I was excited to retrieve a trackable yesterday because I knew I could get it to its goal! I looked more closely at its page, and saw that it was released in 2004, so I was even more happy about being able to finally get it home. Here is his page: http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=73662 'Patty's Mr Bill' was released as a way to distract Patty from the hardship of going through chemo. A lot of cachers, especially the one who had him before me, really bonded with Mr Bill and his mission. There are several pictures of Mr Bill on his various adventures. I looked at the owner's profile, and they last visited Geocaching.com in 2005. I sent them an email anyway, just in case they still use the same email address, to let them know that Mr Bill was close to his goal and would get there in about two weeks. On a very sad note I did some googling and found a obituary for a woman named Patty whose personal information seems to match Mr Bill's Patty: her partner has the same first name, she lived near the goal cache for Mr Bill, she grew up in California where Mr Bill was released, and her age might be about right (there is a picture of her on Mr Bill's page.) The Patty in the obit passed away in 2009 after a 7 year battle with brain cancer. So now I have Mr Bill and he is close to where Patty or her family was going to pick him up. However, his owner is MIA and Patty herself may have passed away. This silly little trackable might hold some meaning for her family. OR it might mean nothing to anyone other than the cachers who have helped it to its goal. Once I have gotten Mr Bill to his goal, should I try to see if I can find a way to contact Patty's family? I don't know for sure if she is the woman in the obit. When does this sort of 'research' turn into stalking? What do you think? Lulilac Quote Link to comment
+JBnW Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 My 0.02...post another note to the page that the goal has been met and you're looking to return it to the owner. There's 5 people watching this bug; hopefully one of them is the person you're looking for, or maybe knows how to contact them. Beyond that, I'm not sure I would carry the investigation any farther. Others might, I wouldn't. Quote Link to comment
+LuLilac Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 My 0.02...post another note to the page that the goal has been met and you're looking to return it to the owner. There's 5 people watching this bug; hopefully one of them is the person you're looking for, or maybe knows how to contact them. Beyond that, I'm not sure I would carry the investigation any farther. Others might, I wouldn't. Thank you for the advice. I just put a note on the TBs page. Quote Link to comment
+desmognathus Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Might try some members of the local geocaching community to see if they know more as well. Quote Link to comment
+Evil Aunt Edith Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 That's quite a story! Although I, of course, agree with those older and wiser in the ways of the Travel Bug, I just like that you did a lot of work to discover what happened and possibly, why. Good detective work. Quote Link to comment
+LuLilac Posted August 19, 2013 Author Share Posted August 19, 2013 I brought Patty's Mr Bill home to his goal cache this weekend. Hopefully, someone from the family will fetch him. Quote Link to comment
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