Civic News

When geocaching goes awry

Police investigated a suspicious package in a Dover park on Saturday. What they found was a message in a bottle.

In search of hidden treasure. (Photo by Flickr user Johan Larsson, used under a Creative Commons license)

Dover Police responded to a report of a “suspicious package” in Schutte Park on Saturday morning. What they found was undoubtedly suspicious — a prescription pill bottle wrapped in camouflage tape.
The contents of the pill bottle turned out to be just as much of a mystery as the package itself. Anthrax? No. Avian flu? Nuh-uh. Smuggled weapons? Negative.
Inside the pill bottle was a hand-written letter, rife with clues.
After calling in the Delaware State Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, law enforcement officials came to the conclusion that the package was not so much a threat to civilians as it was to local geocachers in search of this hidden treasure.
“While the Dover Police Department understands the recreational activity of geocaching, we ask that creators of geocache finds create items that are more obvious in nature,” police spokesman Mark Hoffman said in a statement.
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Discussion on this geocaching forum seems to indicate that these mixups happen often.

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