"Loosey Girl"....Cache MIA For 6 Years FOUND!

[Wild Stealth]

"Loosey Girl"

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC18V0G_loosey-girl?guid=c7cb6f3d-2b84-4591-9ab7-8a5f77f2cffa

 

Hello, everyone. I'm new here. I'm not really into GeoCaching at the moment, but a mystery cropped up and some research has lead me here to a place and hobby I didn't know existed until just very recently.

 

I have apparently found a long lost geocache. The container is a medication bottle that has been wrapped in what appears to be black duct tape. The contents consist of a small toy spider, a little rubber ducky eraser, and a small ziploc bag that contains a little notepad measuring at about 1 1/2 inches wide and about 3 inches long. The notepad looks as though it might have been part of a larger notepad that was cut in half to fit into the medication bottle. There is also a little sheet of paper that was wrapped around the notepad that has instructions/introductions about the geocache and it told me what this container of knickknacks was all about.

 

I found this geocache up on the bank of Cedar Creek on private farm property. Unfortunately, this cache is damaged. When I found the thing, the tape that's wrapped around the bottle looks like wild critters had been chewing on the lid and bottom. Up towards the top near the lid, there is a small hole where part of the plastic of the medication bottle had been broke and partially pushed in.

 

Since I had no idea what this thing was when I first found it on the bank of Cedar Creek clear at the back of the 60 acre farm property I live on, I waited until I had hiked back up to the house before carefully opening it up to discover what was inside.

 

Due to the container having a small hole pushed into it for who knows how long, it has unfortunately left the contents inside vulnerable to the elements. I found that even though the small notepad and instruction sheet was inside a ziploc, some water/condensation also got inside the ziplcoc at some point because whoever was the last person to open the cache did not zip the bag closed. As a result of exposure to the elements, the notepad and instruction/introduction sheet had become damp and the metal spine that holds the notepad together had become rusted as a result.

 

Fortunately, I was able to dry the notepad out enough so that I could look at the pages which had the logs of everyone that found it. The first log was on January 26, 2008. The last one was on April 05, 2008. However, those pages became detached from the notepad's spine, no matter how careful I was to turn them. There was a lot of water/condensation damage to the notepad, but not enough damage to affect the ink on the paper from bleeding too badly. I was able to read most of it with little problem.

 

Thanks to the clues left behind on the instruction/introduction sheet and the name "Loosey Girl" (the name of this cache, apparently) written on both sides of the notepad. I was able to do some research to find out who this cache belonged to and where it originally came from.

 

This "Loosey Girl" cache belongs to a member here called ranjen11. "Loosey Girl" was originally hidden at a park close by to me called Wallace M. Ruff Jr. Memorial Park (Ruff Park) in Springfield Oregon. From reading the comments on the long since archived cache on the Geocaching.com website, it appears this cache went missing from Ruff Park soon after the last person logged their visit in "Loosey Girl's" notepad on April 05, 2008. "Loosey Girl" had been MIA for 6 years until I finally found the thing on private farm property I live on. I don't know where in Ruff Park ranjen11 had "Loosey Girl" hidden, but the cache seems to have somehow ended up in Cedar Creek, which runs next or through Ruff park, and floated its way about a mile all the way to the back of the private farm property. Either someone had thrown the cache into the creek, or Cedar Creek flooded (which has been known to happen) and the cache got removed from Ruff Park that way. Either way, "Loosey Girl" doesn't belong on this private farm property.

 

I wanted to contact ranjen11 and let the person know that I have found his/her long lost "Loosey Girl", but this person has been inactive here since Tuesday, 27 October 2009. The "send message" feature is disabled because this user is currently inactive.

 

So, what do I do with this cache now? Since this is apparently ranjen11's very first hidden cache, I thought that ranjen11 might want to have it back. But since the person appears to be no longer active here, I'm not sure what to do now. Any suggestions?

[+Touchstone]

...I'm not sure what to do now. Any suggestions?

 

Well, sharing your story, like you just did, is a great start! Thanks for sharing. I love these, "bottle in the ocean" type stories, where caches end up in the strangest places.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the cache itself. Like you pointed out, the cache owner appears to have moved on to other interests. You went above and beyond figuring out the mystery and finding the Listing page and cache owners Profile. Excellent detective work!

[+Roman!]

The cache page actually gives the coordinates and based on the clue you could have a pretty good idea where it should be. It would be cool if you decide to take up geocaching to hide the cache again using the container you found, under a new listing and tell the story on the cache page.

[+Touchstone]

The cache page actually gives the coordinates and based on the clue you could have a pretty good idea where it should be. It would be cool if you decide to take up geocaching to hide the cache again using the container you found, under a new listing and tell the story on the cache page.

 

Unfortunately there are two caches blocking the *exact* location where the cache used to be (one PM and the other a regular trad).

[7rxc]

One obvious thing to do would be to LOG the FIND on the archived cache page... You did find it... just sign the log or a new page in the container. Then write a Found log telling the story... to complete the history of the cache. ( you could just edit down your post here). The archived status does not block this at all unless it is locked to logs. Late logs are common on archived caches found before and after archiving IF they are legitimate.

 

In fact, you might just find your missing CO, since people do occasionaly read their old cache pages, or might still get notifications... or not. Anyway it would round off the story of the cache. I'd even consider using a digital camera to photo the log book and upload the photos to the page as well. After that the old container would probably be disposed of. Also it's possible that someone reading this topic might be able to shed light on the CO... people at that time could change username by creating a new account most often, or they may have had life problems, including death. Many just burn out or find new interests...

 

At least you have a great story for your first find, so log away.

 

Doug 7rxc

[Wild Stealth]

Hello again, everyone. I have some pics of "Loosey Girl" I was going to edit into my opening post for this thread, but I don't see the edit function for that post (unless I'm blind, I don't know.) So I guess I'll just put these pics here in this new post instead. These pics are to help authenticate to anyone who might be doubting my story that I did indeed find "Loosey Girl."

 

The total package! Water damage and all!

 

This is the bottom of the container where damage is quite obvious.

 

This is the top and lid of the container. More damage is very noticeable. Most notably, the hole near the lid that allowed the contents to be vulnerable to the elements.

 

This is the front of "Loosey Girl's" log book which has water damage from being exposed to the elements.

 

This is the water damage to the log book's metal spine. Lots of rust.

 

This is the back of the log book. Water damage is visible here as well.

 

I also have pics of the logbook pages. I'll exceed the number of pics allowed for this post if I include them now, so I'll make a new post in a few moments.

[Wild Stealth]

And lastly, here are the 7 pages from the logbook of "Loosey Girl" containing logs of everyone that found it. They are all very much water damaged. However by some miracle, the logs on each of these pages are still readable for the most part.

 

 

It would be cool if you decide to take up geocaching to hide the cache again using the container you found, under a new listing and tell the story on the cache page.

An intriguing idea. However, this cache is in no shape to be re-released back into the wild. The container is damaged. Also, water damage has really done a number on the logbook and has left a foul nose-curling odor on all of the contents.

 

One obvious thing to do would be to LOG the FIND on the archived cache page... You did find it... just sign the log or a new page in the container. Then write a Found log telling the story... to complete the history of the cache. ( you could just edit down your post here). The archived status does not block this at all unless it is locked to logs. Late logs are common on archived caches found before and after archiving IF they are legitimate.

 

In fact, you might just find your missing CO, since people do occasionaly read their old cache pages, or might still get notifications... or not. Anyway it would round off the story of the cache. I'd even consider using a digital camera to photo the log book and upload the photos to the page as well. After that the old container would probably be disposed of. Also it's possible that someone reading this topic might be able to shed light on the CO... people at that time could change username by creating a new account most often, or they may have had life problems, including death. Many just burn out or find new interests...

 

At least you have a great story for your first find, so log away.

 

Doug 7rxc

Now that I've figured out how, I have left a log entry on "Loosey Girl's" page with a summarized version of my opening post. I have also included on that cache page all of the pics I've posted in this thread. That should, hopefully, put a nice ending to "Loosey Girl's" page.

 

I guess now it's just a case of waiting to see what happens.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Wild Stealth

[+Ambrosia]

Thanks for the posts and pictures. Great job posting a log to the cache page! It may not garner anything visible, but it's a great touch, nonetheless.

 

After you make a post here in the forums, you can edit that post for a short time. After a while (is it 24 hours? I should be able to remember this!), the editing function is disabled.

[Mr.Yuck]

One obvious thing to do would be to LOG the FIND on the archived cache page... You did find it... just sign the log or a new page in the container. Then write a Found log telling the story... to complete the history of the cache. ( you could just edit down your post here). The archived status does not block this at all unless it is locked to logs. Late logs are common on archived caches found before and after archiving IF they are legitimate.

 

In fact, you might just find your missing CO, since people do occasionaly read their old cache pages, or might still get notifications... or not. Anyway it would round off the story of the cache. I'd even consider using a digital camera to photo the log book and upload the photos to the page as well. After that the old container would probably be disposed of. Also it's possible that someone reading this topic might be able to shed light on the CO... people at that time could change username by creating a new account most often, or they may have had life problems, including death. Many just burn out or find new interests...

 

At least you have a great story for your first find, so log away.

 

Doug 7rxc

 

Possible they might still get the emails. It is unfortunate a probably disinterested owner who hasn't logged in since 2009 was the owner. And the account is disabled. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, isn't the only way that can happen is if you ask Groundspeak to do that?

 

Your story is amazing, and I'd never poo-poo it. But There was a report of a cache being found on the opposite shore of Lake Michigan a few years ago. Great work at figuring out the basics of this website, and finding out who the owner was.

[+Ethankwolfe]

Surprising that it's held up so well!

[+terrkan78]

How cool! This is my neck of the woods. I put a link on a couple local FB pages to see if anyone who's been around longer than me knows ranjen11 (they're not very active FB pages, so I'm not expecting much of a response).

 

Neat story - thanks for sharing!