Hello Sigma Team
This assignment may get you a little soggy. You're being dispatched to the Dudgeon Swamp, where we've been getting reports of some sort of monster lurking in the area.
Dudgeon Swamp, a pestilent wooded mire. This festering land has been witness to many heinous acts. If this place is to be made safe again, you must find the point of origin for what lurks within. We've found the longitude, -85.665331, but we don't know the latitude - that is your mission.
Leafing through the dossier provided to you, you see an old local newspaper. Perhaps something of value can be gleaned from the clues it provides.
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Woman Pleads Guilty to Two Murders in Newaygo County
February 10, 1923
White Cloud, Mich.-- Yesterday, Meda (Dudgeon) Hodell pled guilty to the murder of two individuals who have been identified as her father-in-law and husband, David and Romie ‘Doc’ Hodell.
According to sources, David moved in with the newlyweds in January 1922 and was dead by February. The cause of death has been listed as poison.
Romie was found hanging by a horse harness in his barn on June 6, 1922. Meda claims he went out to feed the horse, but never returned to the house. She went to check on Romie and found him dead. Meda says her husband owed an $1800 debt that he could not repay.
Meda confessed to the murder of her husband and then recanted, saying she was coerced, before returning to her original confession. Her credibility was called into question not only for this discrepancy, but also due to the fact that she is believed to have birthed two children who have never been seen.
Meda Hodell has been sentenced to life in prison for the murders.
This is not the first scandalous event Meda has been involved in.
Her family, the Dudgeons, faced resentment from the community when they bought land in sections 29 and 30 of Godell Township. The residents had been using part of this 800 acres to graze their cattle. Rumors that one of their farmhands, Robert Bennett, killed all seven of his family members only added to the community’s dislike of the Dudgeons. Officials believe the bodies were likely buried in the swamp, but they don’t have the means to search the 1200- acre swamp, so nothing has been proven.
The community hopes that with the incarceration of Meda Hodell, all the senseless tragedy surrounding her will come to an end.
Ascertain a number where the tens place
Contains the months between the father and son's fate.
To finish this digit, put a number in ones
For each missing baby, says the wagging of tongues.
Add one to this integer for the Dudgeon swamp
And then prepare yourself for the next prompt.
Examine purchased sections carefully,
they ADD up when purchased by this family,
it makes a DIFFERENCE that there were 2.
The result gives you the hundreds and tens place of this clue.
The ones this time is the count of the Bennett family.
To find the last number to the lair
You will need to calculate with care
The sum of the acres of swamp and Dudgeon land
Then subtract the year Meda was sentenced
Add a century if you get the drift
That extra hundred leads you to the rift
In the distance you see a figure, watching you, coming no closer.
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It would appear that the monster has found you. Quickly, you must hurry to the coordinates you found.
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Enter the coordinates here.
​Are you stumped?
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Call your team for help with the FIRST riddle here.
(Look for the hint on that website.)
Need more help with riddle #1?
Try again here.
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For help with the SECOND riddle,
consult with your team here.
Another clue for riddle #2?
Try here.
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For help with the THIRD riddle,
call your team here.
Still stumped on the third riddle?
Try again here.
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If they weren't helpful enough,
contact the MiLibraryQuest team ​​
for additional help here.