It’s Ok to mark your trackable missing

[+sporfrog]

So, your trackable has not been logged in six months, even though the cache it's in is found once a week. Finally an email arrives. A fellow geocacher writes a log that “Mr Bunny Foo Foo” is not in the cache. What!?! He never even left the state! Bummer! It’s probably time to mark Mr Bunny Foo Foo as missing. It’s OK.

 

Marking a trackable missing does not remove it from the game! Let me repeat… marking a trackable missing does not remove it from the game. It simply removes it from the online inventory of the cache where it is listed as being, but is not actually there. The trackable is then moved to an "unknown" location which is accurate - since it is, well, unknown. This is not the same as archiving a cache.

 

If the trackable is found again a geocacher can "Grab" it and then "Drop" it in another cache. Miles will accumulate, the map will update and all will be well again.

 

Different people play the game differently. Some go out looking for trackables to pick up and move along. It is frustrating when a cache is supposed to have a trackable but actually doesn't.

 

If your trackable is missing, go to its page on geocaching.com and “Mark Item Missing”. Hopefully it will show up some day in some far away cache and continue the mission.

 

https://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=152

[+Manville Possum]

As a cache owner that likes to keep the trackable inventory correct, I mark trackables that are no longer present in my caches missing too.

[+fuzziebear3]

And, after they have been missing for a while and it seems all hope is lost, feel free to reuse the number on a new item and re-release it so it can have a new journey.

[+cerberus1]

Or, after missing for some time, you can remain stress-free by putting that trackable to rest, never re-using that code again.

[+sporfrog]

And, after they have been missing for a while and it seems all hope is lost, feel free to reuse the number on a new item and re-release it so it can have a new journey.

 

I'm not sure that is a good idea. You never know if the original will be found. I found a trackable once that had been lost for 2 years. Others have stories of their own trackables not being logged for years then all of a sudden getting found. If you have two trackables out there with the same number, the logs and maps are going to get very confusing. I thinks it's probably best to buy another trackable item and send it out instead of reusing a tracking number.

[+mesillywoohoo]

Also Missing doesn't mean gone forever! My Ko Paikea tb was missing for a year and then the person found it in their home and put it into a new cache! My friends TB had something similar happen

[+fuzziebear3]

If 2 start showing movement, I'll have someone remove one of them. I have released many proxies, and really haven't run into that situation. I'd rather see them travel along more/again than just be lost. I'd rather there were more trackables (even proxies) in the world for people to see and find in caches. I do buy new ones and release those too, but I can still recycle my old numbers as well.

[amidknight]

Sorry I'm late to the party. Curious about how to mark a trackable found.

I released a bunch and they seem to be missing.

 

Either truly lost or from human error on not properly tracking.

 

Should this just sort itself out over the course of gameplay??

[+CAVinoGal]

28 minutes ago, amidknight said:

I released a bunch and they seem to be missing.

 

Either truly lost or from human error on not properly tracking.

Many of your released TB's seem to be in  play - gathering mileage, recent logs, etc.  Others have no mileage or are marked "Unknown locaton" (i.e. - Missing)  Human error, incorrect logging, forgetfulness - all could be factors, and some may eventually turn up in months or even years!  The bulk of yours appear to be in good hands.

 

As far as marking them "found" - if you know a missing one's location you can drop it in that cache, or grab it so it's back in your possession.  If someone finds one they can also do the same to get it back in play - that's how some mysteriously reappear after being "lost".

[+cerberus1]

2 hours ago, amidknight said:

Sorry I'm late to the party. Curious about how to mark a trackable found.
I released a bunch and they seem to be missing.

Either truly lost or from human error on not properly tracking.

Should this just sort itself out over the course of gameplay??

 

One (smalls 9) had a person log it as Retrieved (and a friend discovered it), but you marked it missing two days later.

Maybe they'll realize the human error and Grab it when they get to the pacific nw to place it in a cache,  as they said in their log.   

Couldn't hurt to email, explain it was a mistake, and ask 'em to Grab it to keep logs accurate I guess ...

 

Trackable logging errors are happening more than years ago for some odd reason. I believe it's because you just need to download a free app n go.

Appears at least one person doesn't know much about trackables, Discovering it but posting they'll "take it to a new location and let the next person track it."

Some seem to have been Retrieved/Grabbed, and not in another cache yet.  A couple caches you and others placed in are now archived (with no movement).

Agree with CAVinoGal, for the most part most are okay.