News Of A Murder Multi-cache
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The subjects of this cache were the victims of a tragic act of violence in 1943. Read the description and visit the gravesites of the victims AND one of the killers!
Grady and Ruphine Cherry (21 and 19 years old, respectively) were young and poor. Grady worked as a rural mail carrier while they lived with Ruphine's uncle and his wife, Deputy N.K. and Mrs. Herndon, in Tharpe, TN. Grady picked up a little extra cash by giving the local kids, particularly girls, rides from the little community of Model to the "big city" of Dover while doing his mail run.
Alvin Hicks had the "hots" for Ruphine, a pretty girl. He convinced John Luffman, father of one of the local girls, that there was more to Grady's involvement than a simple lift to town. On August 15, 1943, Hicks and Luffman went to the Herndon's house to "rough up" Grady Cherry - instead, they shot and killed him (probably Hicks' original intent). This was witnessed by Ruphine, so they killed her, too (NOT Hicks' original intent), with a gun they'd taken from her uncle's house some time before.
Through a series of twists and turns executed by local investigators, Hicks was caught. Under interrogation, he named Luffman, who was already serving a sentence for assaulting his 18-year-old daughter. And under separate interrogation, Luffman named Hicks. By implicating each other, both implicated himself as well. They were tried for the sexual assault/murder, convicted, sentenced, and then executed by the state of Tennessee on August 30, 1943.
The Cherrys were no strangers to tragedy. The first set of coordinates takes you to the cemetery where they're buried (aptly named Cherry Cemetery). But look between their tombstones and use the dates you see there - how sad! - to fill in the coordinates for the actual caches (transfer dates to MM/DD/YY format).
Michael Goday: AB/CD/BE - AD/CB/BE
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Final stage: N E6 E6.811 W A87 DD.D1B
This set of coordinates will take you to Hicks' final resting place. His and brother Franklin's simple name stones rest against their parents' large marker. Lucky Delbert - he passed on before having to see his son pay for what he'd done.
This was also the site of Neville Creek Baptist Church. The cache is near what's left of it. You're looking for a camo-covered mayo jar container. Original contents are:
WriterGirl's signature item; The Boatman's signature item; Kentucky postcard; race car; personal fan; magic 8-ball; Kentucky U.F.O. license; elephant zcard; frog; Metro Girl; Willy the Whale; "God Bless America" pin; "learn Spanish" cards; geodocument, log book; pencils; FTF gift!
As with my other caches, no grave need be disturbed to find it as it's not actually hidden IN the cemetery. Be respectful of the dead and their loved ones who visit these cemeteries by helping to keep the area clean - CITO!!!!!
A special thank you to the original hiders WriterGirl and The Boatman for all their research and time spent creating and maintaining this cache over the years.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
"Fgrc" qbja naq ybbx nebhaq.