I awoke at about ten on Sunday. Unfortunately, I missed the dew and fog that’s present during Colby mornings. I headed over to Dana for a bagel and coffee, and then I was ready to explore.
I decided to take the path less traveled through the Arb for an enigmatic entrance to the scene of a secret crime. As I traversed the treacherous and –beautifully– overgrown forest, I was forced to hop over roots, skip over mud, and take in the damp nature all around. Until I came across a clearing. The low ground was painted in wildflowers and, around them, waist-high grass flourished. As I continued through the clearing, my feet left the cushioned dirt; and were met by rigid concrete. However, writing this I’ve begun to wonder how reliable my eye-witness account is. Would someone struggle to find what I found, or is the vivid detail just my imagination?
Regardless, I found thirty minutes in the forest pass too quickly. As I dwelled on this, I saw it, the mysterious site. Despite my hopes, I wasn’t confronted by a yellow tape boundary, or a chalk outline of a body. It was clear at that moment that my addiction to true crime television had warped my expectations (I will still be watching The Wire tonight). All that was lying out in front of me was a generator, a steel railing, and a patch of dead grass. Yet, this seemingly innocent setting had a slightly eerie aura to it.
It looked uncared for and was partially covered in overgrown greenery which elicited an unsettling feeling within me. It was like this small generator was part of a bygone era, left there as a lonesome reminder of its past. I wanted to stay respectful and within legal bounds so I didn’t take the stairs just behind the generator. Which left me with little to go off of, and a feeling that the directions described. Confusion. I was utterly puzzled as to why I was there and what crime took place. I hypothesized that it was unlikely to be a violent crime, and instead, potentially, vandalism or destruction of property charge- Which seemed much more befitting of the scene. However, as it is with much of the true crime world, the truth is shrouded in mystery. Then a question brewed inside: what does a crime scene actually look like?
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Pictured below: the site and my partner in crime (Avon Barksdale)
I really enjoyed reading this and your attention to detail was very captivating. I related to your feeling of confusion when you came across the crime scene, wondering what could have happened based on what you saw. I was thinking of a million different possibilities all of which were probably much more dramatic than what actually occurred. I am a big fan of watching crime shows so I think I had built up this big idea of caution tape, or as you said a chalk outline of a body making it clear it was a crime scene. So when I arrived at an ordinary sight it was hard for me to identify what truly could have happened.