It is my belief at least one of the caches referred to in this tread was placed on "temporarily unavailable" tonight along with all the others this owner placed.
I have been trying to help the owner but he emailed he "just can't get the procedure of the game".
He said he hoped he had "permanently disabled" them. I don't think that really is the case. He is going to pick them all up tomorrow.
A shame - as with a little work - these would have probably all been ok.
Actually I had suggestions for all - had he wanted to stay involved.
I had tried to explain to him that it was no joke for someone to struggle with a false or useless clue (better to have none), bad coordinates or an area which was not pleasant or perhaps safe to visit. Was so concerned about this before his posting to withdraw his caches, I even called Becket.
Becket - thank you for the comments, advice and support. Appreciated!
I actually tryed to adopt a soaked cache that the owners had not responded to GPS fun or me. The response I got, after posting to the log on line, was less than pleasant via email. I was accused of being the "cache police". Folks did replace their containers (finally) but not before they bashed me via email. That's a shame when anyone is trying to help.
As for the lost caches in my town - perhaps the owner will rethink his decision. He goes to FL for the winter so I don't know who was going to maintain them then anyway. I had agreed to do a few but that wasn't over 4 - think he had 7 out with a couple pending!
Archiving should come when a cache owner (or alternative designed person) does not respond in a timely manner to concerns about the cache or conditions of the cache which need attention....and document action with posting into the log. Some things I think a 5 - 7 day window is reasonable and should be expected. Others I think could be pushed out to 10 - 14 days but that would be the maximum.
In considering keeping the cache active, I think activity on the site by the owner should be considered. If someone is inactive (nothing - sign on, find, etc. - last 3 months) - then even a positive response should be looked at with caution.
My highest respect for GPSFun who has an unbelievable job to read a crystal ball! Thank you for all you do to keep us up and running with sites to find. You are much like a dog show judge - with a thankless job - wrong if you do and wrong if you don't. Again, thanks for all you do.