The cache is not at the posted coordinates. To find it you will have to solve a murder, good luck.
Disclaimer: while this murder mystery is based on a real wildlife murder, the suspects and clues described are fabricated for your adventure; any resemblance to real people or facts is purely coincidental.
Okay intrepid new park warden, you've been asked to take over an old investigation that if you managed to solve would make you famous: who killed the mighty Duke.
Not knowing anything about Duke you check out his background story here.
So Duke was shot multiple times over the night of October 9th back in 1991. After the press release there were a few leads but none of them panned out and the trail has gone cold… until now.
The warden service has received new information that the poacher who killed Duke may be back in the area again hunting in a nearby Wildlife Management Area.
Transcript of interview with reliable witness.
Park Warden: Hi, I understand you may have some information for us regarding a black bear poaching that occurred in Riding Mountain. What can you tell us?
Witness: Yes I think I saw the guy who killed Duke. I overhead a fellow say that he was responsible.
Park Warden: Where and when did this occur?
Witness: Yesterday after supper, I was out walking out in the Onanole Wildlife Management Area and heard a rifle shot. I was a bit nervous about that so I headed back out to my vehicle when I saw two guys walking up to a dead black bear lying in the meadow. They looked nervous and a bit suspicious so I stayed in the bush where they couldn't see me. My car was parked in the bush along a trail so I was pretty sure they didn't know I was around.
While I was standing there they got quite excited when they go up close to the bear. The evening was clear and calm so their conversation carried over to me quite well. The taller fellow carrying a rifle and wearing a ball cap said that it was the second biggest bear he'd ever shot. The shorter guy said, no way, there weren't any bears bigger than the one they were looking at. The taller guy paused for a minute and then said, 'Duke was bigger'. The shorter guy went quiet and then said 'You killed Duke?' The taller guy said, 'Yep, and you and I are the only ones who know that, and if it doesn't stay that way you will end up like this bear'. After that they took some pictures, cut open the bear and took something out, and then took off in a hurry.
Park Warden: Why were you out walking in the wildlife area?
Witness: I was looking for a spot to hide a geocache.
Park Warden: Oh, you are a geocacher are you? <wrinkles brow> Did you recognize the people you saw?
Witness: No.
Park Warden: Can you take me to where you saw the bear?
Witness: I can do better than that; I've watched CSI so I looked for physical evidence for you. I have coordinates to a footprint (N 50° 37.263' W 99° 51.886') that I saw the shooter leave on his way out and a shell casing from the rifle he used (N 50° 37.357' W 99° 51.850'). You might be able to match them to physical evidence from the Duke crime scene. I also took a picture of a tire track they left on the trail. Will this be enough to find the shooter?
Park Warden: I guess we will find out.
The final cache is located at N 50° 37.A' W 99° 51.BC0 where A is the calibre of shell casing found at the posted coordinates, BC = 43 + 26 which is the length of the footprint in cm.
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This cache was created to add to the number of QUALITY caches hidden in Manitoba. It is an official cache in the MBGA Cache Splash event. |
| Category 28: Murder Mystery themed cache. |