Valley of Heroes - Virtual Reward Virtual Cache
Valley of Heroes - Virtual Reward
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This VIRTUAL REWARD commemorates a service dog: a black Labrador Retriever named Rhonda.
Rhonda is remembered for her astonishing abilities that helped police and fire investigators solve countless suspicious blazes, including several involving homicides.
Rhonda put her nose to the ground at hundreds of fire scenes during her service from 2000 to 2008.
One of the most high profile cases Rhonda worked was the July 2002 death of 14-year-old Robin Boes, whose body was found in the family’s burned Zeeland home. While much of the home smelled of gasoline, Rhonda found key evidence of gasoline on an overturned chair in the bedroom of Robin’s mother, Karen. The mother was convicted of murder.
“That chair was a crucial piece of evidence we likely would not have found without her,” said Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigator Mike Marquardt.
Rhonda’s nose was so sensitive, that she could sniff out a drop of gasoline or other accelerant on a piece of wood from a considerable distance.
Her partner remembered an instance where he investigated a routine attic fire and brought Rhonda into the house for companionship. But the dog soon “alerted” to insulation that had fallen from the ceiling. The discovery helped convict a contractor, also a minister, who had been paid up front to renovate the vacant home but ran out of money. He set the attic on fire.
In another case, Rhonda helped sniff out the remnants of a Dixie cup of gas that was poured on the stairs of an Alpine Avenue NW stairwell leading to apartments and set ablaze in 2000, killing a tenant. She found the accelerant despite the enormous amount of water used to put out the fire.
*** NOT ALL HEROES WALK ON TWO LEGS. RHONDA WAS ONE OF THEM. ***
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This cache is located in a cemetery and all cemetery caching rules apply:
• NO NIGHT CACHING!
• Be respectful of all others in the cemetery. If there is a service or memorial ongoing, please return later.
• Be respectful of all plantings, flags, headstones, and memorials.
• Drive SLOWLY thru the cemetery.
DO NOT create a geotrail to this location.
If there is snow on the ground, this cache WILL NOT BE WINTER FRIENDLY.
This cache was placed with the cemetery owner’s permission.
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The requirements to log this cache:
1. Send me the information inscribed on Rhonda’s stone. You can write it in a message/email to me or send a photo. DO NOT POST IT IN YOUR LOG.
2. Post a photo of the “Valley of Heroes” memorial in your log.
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Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.
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Enjoy!
----- Congrats to RDC4106 on FTF ----
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Treasures
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