Deep, Dark Water and A Siren's Cry Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

CoyoteTrust: THANKS TO ALL VISITORS.

While I thought this was a nice piece of historical value, I got tired of all the garbage located near the final, especially during today's maintenance visit. Look for something related to this cache in the future, anyway.

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Hidden : 6/20/2006
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This very simple multi is along the lines of the Ghost Stories caches; it will bring you to two areas denoting a shadowy portion of local history. The cache is at the second set of coordinates -- a decon kit about three feet off the ground. The initial coordinates bring you to the site of the the old Village Hall, Police, and Fire Departments. Unfortunately, the historical building that housed these agencies has been torn down and replaced by what you see.

In 1982, the body of Diane Masters -- who had been missing for more almost 1 year -- was discovered in the trunk of her vehicle which was submerged in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. County authorities took custody of the vehicle and temporarily stored it in the then-existing Fire Department's garage at this site.

During the time that the vehicle was stored here, and during the investigation of Dianne's disappearance and subsequent murder investigation, the building's lights would turn on or off by themselves, and the Fire Department's siren sounded without anyone triggering it.

INSTRUCTIONS:

(1) At the initial coordinates, turn off the main road and onto the side street.
(2) Near the sidewalk you will see steps leading to the main road (for some unknown reason)
(3) The number of steps you see is X. Insert X into this North coordinate: N41* 4X.0X5. The West coordinate is 087* 52.802
(4) Navigate to the new coordinates and seek the cache.


The NEW Coordinates:

Now you're near the site where, in 1982, a local police officer noticed tire tracks leading to the very edges of the canal embankment. His instinct led him to believe a vehicle may have been driven into the water. This spurred an investigation in which 72 vehicles were removed from the canal – some up to 2 miles west of this site, and one of them belonging to Diane Masters (her body was found in its trunk).

Naturally her disappearance investigation evolved into a murder investigation, and the authorities eventually had charged her husband, Attorney Alan Masters, with conspiracy to murder his wife. They also implicated former Willow Springs Police Chief Michael Corbitt with accessory charges (he was closely associated with Mr. Masters).

Controversy is abound in this story: some say Corbitt killed Diane Masters, threw her body in the vehicle, and pushed the vehicle into the canal. Others contend that Alan Masters killed Diane, and Corbitt merely helped ditch the car and body. No one was actually charged with the murder.


Regardless, once the trials and convictions in Dianne's murder were completed in 1989, the Fire Department's siren stopped sounding on its own...

There is a made-for-TV movie called “Deadly Matrimony” which depicts this tale (except for the ghostly part of it).

NOTES:

- Pedestrian traffic IS allowed here; the sign on the gate merely references vehicle traffic. MWRD police swung by the area as I was placing and they had no issues with me (or the nearby fisherman) being there.
- The actual site of the canal dredging took place about 100 feet northeast of the cache.
- Use caution at the final due to its relatively close proximity to water.
- Cache placement was at 15.3 feet averaged accuracy

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

unatva' jrfg [of the] by' oevqtr [and] abegu [of] jrfgrea cbyr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)

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