Grand Canyon officials seek duo who vandalized rocks

[accadacca]

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK — Investigators with the National Park Service asked for help Monday to identify two people who they say recently vandalized rocks in the Grand Canyon.

Two people were seen spray painting a rock feature at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim on May 22, according to Grand Canyon National Park officials. Another visitor to the area reportedly witnessed the vandalism in progress and took pictures of the duo.

Before park rangers could respond to the area, the two people spray painted the message “Evans 16” on a rock feature and left, according to park officials. They said the two people were in the area of the Yavapai Geology Museum.

Anyone with information about the vandalism or the identity of the two people can contact the NPS Investigative Services Branch by calling 888-653-0009. Those who call the tip line can remain anonymous.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=40085556&nid...ndalized-rocks

[jman]

Wouldn't this be hard to prove in court with no evidence of them "in the act"?

Sure it's circumstantial. But those photos could literally be of anyone.

Unless of course they are not sharing those photos.

I guess the only "proof" would be to see if this "Evans" family matches this couple. Even then, it could be a different "Evans" family.

/devils advocate


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[Sombeech]

It sure would suck for these folks if they were innocent. I don't see them carrying a spray can, but they could have easily tossed it.

Right now we are blaming these guys for the graffiti, but it could be somebody mad at these two for stealing a parking spot, so they decide to frame them.

Like I said, it sure would suck to be this couple if it turns out it wasn't them. They would never be able to clear their name or faces in the public again.

[Sombeech]

Imagine if I go to Goblin Valley this weekend, take a picture of a goblin that has toppled (possibly decades ago) and then I take a picture of somebody who stunk up the toilet or was hogging the chairs at the parking lot, and I just decided to report them as the people who tipped over the goblin.

There would be a public OUTRAGE. Can you imagine ever putting that genie back in the bottle for those poor souls?

Anyways, I'm not clearing these folks, but sometimes you've gotta have a little more than a single source before you issue a nationwide manhunt.

[moffer]

The article says the people who witnessed them took 'pictures', so perhaps they have photos of them in the act. This might just be the best photo of their faces.

[Sombeech]

Yeah with all of the postings of this article, I've yet to see a photo of them in the act. So to play Devil's Advocate, this could still be some photo out of spite to blame this couple that stole a parking spot, and it's gotten way out of hand by going viral.

I'm not even sure if we know who the original source is anymore, they're probably freaking out.

[Glenn]

I don't think the NPS would go public with this unless they had reasonable evidence of the crime (ex., additional photos, corroborating testimonies from many eyewitnesses)

We had a similar incident in Texas earlier this year at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area when two persons tagged a boulder with gold spray paint. They were caught and charged about a month later.

http://keyetv.com/news/local/pair-fr...-rock-graffiti

[accadacca]

They have tracked them down:

https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1563/graffiti-at-grca.htm