Sobering

There is a Geocacher saying that is printed on stickers and t-shirts that goes, "Geocachers know where all the bodies are hidden", meaning that we are good at hiding things, many times in plain site. Well that saying took on new meaning in Dallas over the holiday weekend when a duo of veteran cachers found the body of homeless man, several days old in an abandoned part of Grove Hill Memorial Park Cemetery. Here is the log entry for the cache they were looking for when they made the grisly discovery:

9:21 am - It was bound to happen sooner or later... We all hunt for caches in cemeteries and in some pretty remote places, so it wouldn't have surprised me to find out that a cacher had discovered a dead body - I just didn't expect it to be me, though I am one of those people that things just seem to happen to. I've even seen t-shirts that say "Geocachers know where all the bodies are hidden" and that seems to be very true.

I was caching in the Dallas area with (caching friend) and we were excited to have some of (Popular caching team) caches on our to-do list. In addition, (prolific cacher) has a cache very nearby called "Stuck on You - In the Middle" and that was on our list first. So, we pulled up to the outside gate of Grove Hill Memorial Park and started chasing the needle (following the GPSr). It led us toward the corner at first where we found a homeless guy "sleeping." He was surrounded by beer cans so we just thought he was passed out and sleeping it off. We then went into Super Silent Stealth Mode because we didn't want to wake him up and tiptoed over to where the cache actually was. I found the cache and took it over to (other cacher) so that he could do the paperwork and (yet another cacher) and I decided to check on the homeless guy. Hmmm...he doesn't appear to be breathing...and on closer inspection (which I will save you from because it was really GROSS!) it became apparent that this poor guy was dead. Dang! Time to call 911.

NG: We're at the corner of Samuel and Grove Hill and we've found a homeless man in the cemetery and he's dead.
911: Is he injured? What makes you think he's dead?
NG: He's not breathing (and I also told her about the GROSS stuff)
911: Is he Hispanic, Black, or White?
NG: He's Hispanic or White - it's kind of hard to tell. (What difference does that make? Dang!)
911: What's he wearing?
NG: A green t-shirt and khaki pants (Dang woman! He's not fleeing - he's dead! He's the only dead guy on top of the ground in the cemetery - why do you need to know what he's wearing?)
911: We'll dispatch someone right away.

It's the fourth of July and there's no telling how long it's going to take for them to get here and the dead body was really starting to creep us out, so we decide to move to the inside of the cemetery where the other caches are and wait for the sirens. We went right by one of the caches so we made the find and were doing the paperwork when we heard the sirens, so we went back to the gate to wait. We flagged down the firetruck (why did they send a firetruck?) and ambulance (it's a little late for that!) just as my phone was ringing. It was a police officer on the way to the scene.

PO: Why is someone from East Texas calling in a dead body in Dallas?
NG: Uh...we're up here "visiting" (boy, am I glad I didn't have to explain that one! Who just "visits" in a cemetery?) and just happened to find it.
PO: Is he injured or traumatized?
NG: No sir, he's dead.
PO: Well, I guess he decided to cut out the middle man.
NG: Yes sir, I guess he did. (It was all I could do to not burst out laughing - I couldn't believe he said that!!!) The firetruck and ambulance are already here.
PO: I'm about 20 minutes out so I'll be there soon.At this point, we asked the fire department guys if they needed us to stay and they said no, so we went on to the other caches inside the cemetery. We were a little shaken up but there was nothing we could do for the poor guy, so we decided to not let this ruin our caching day. After we finished the rest of the caches inside, we drove back out the way we came in. The firetruck was gone, the ambulance was gone, there were now 2 police cars there, and the dead body was STILL THERE!!! Oh my gosh! We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Today was a day that we will never forget. (Cacher) hit 3000 (finds), I hit 4400, and we were FTF (First to Find) on a dead body. Do you think geocaching.com will give us a special icon for it?

I always wondered when something like this would happen close to home.

Anyone have any ideas WHY I do not like going into Dallas?