From the editor's desk

Recent search for body raises a number of questions.

Ahem.  One of the things that can be both a blessing and a curse of the weekly publication cycle is that events rarely pay heed to that same cycle.  Every now and then, we are in a position to come across a story that is perfectly timed for our release date.  While it isn’t all that common, it does happen.  And it’s nice to be able to “break” a story that is impactful to readers in Caribou County.  During the fires in Bancroft, for instance, we were able to be on the scene fairly quickly and post to Facebook, and then gather more substantial information by the time our press deadline rolled around.

But of course the reverse is also true, and so it was last Thursday when I received a call from a source in Soda Springs who informed me that there was a potential drowning recovery operation underway out in the county.  Like most people hearing that, my stomach sank and I prepared to tackle a somber story about a life cut short and the long road to recovery for those left behind, and maybe an adjacent story about water safety and first aid.

By now it’s hard to imagine that there are too many people who don’t know how that story developed, however.  It was picked up by East Idaho News and the Idaho State Journal at the very least, and I can’t imagine that it doesn’t already have legendary status on late night TV and a million internet memes.  If you somehow missed it, the short version is this—the “body” turned out to be a very expensive “female companion doll” which had been given a burial at sea and discovered by a local fisherman.

The basic facts raise at least a few obvious questions, and most of them are jokes.  By a joke of the universe, I had several opportunities to run into members of the Sheriff’s office and other emergency service agencies in the following days, and by the time I got to them they were already tired of the jokes.  Kudos to them for still having a good sense of humor about the whole thing.  Out of deference to the professionals, I won’t quote anyone directly or use anyone’s names because goodness knows they are already going to be hearing about this for months, if not years, and they certainly don’t need any Google SEO tied to their names on the subject.

To cover the basics—No, they did not send the doll out for DNA testing.  No, they did not notify the next of kin.  No, no one reported it missing.  No, it wasn’t a record-setting catch because records of that sort are not kept.  No, it was not the blow-up kind, as that would have just floated away.  No, it isn’t a crime exactly, except, as Sheriff Mabey said to one earlier news source, “misdemeanor littering”.  Yes, they really did think it was a person, since it was the very expensive type of companion doll that most people (including those on scene) have never seen in real life.  And yes, they treated the “body” with the respect it was due when they thought it was a tragedy instead of a comedy.

And that’s the real point of the thing.  Even though it is undeniably a funny story at the end of the day, it wasn’t funny at the beginning of that same day.  When they got the call, everyone on the other end of the phone mobilized, steeled themselves against the likelihood of having to possibly inform a family about what had happened to their sister, or mother, or daughter, thought about their own families, and went out to work anyway.  On the scene, they all watched with dread as evidence of the thin border between life and death floated shoreward.  And they all likely breathed a sigh of relief as they realized the only real tragedy was going to be the month’s worth of tasteless jokes they would have to endure.

So, call this one a victory of sorts.  No one got hurt, the worst outcome didn’t come to pass, and everyone involved certainly has a prize winning story for the campfire, the convention, the barbecue or wherever.  There is no end to its potential as on opening joke in a speech to the right audience.

But it’s also a victory in that it demonstrates the high level of dedication among those first responders that we all rely on to keep us safe, and have our backs when we aren’t.  

But that doesn’t mean I don’t still have a million questions…