WATCH: An update on a story CHEK News first reported two weeks ago. That’s when members of the Comox Valley disc golf club were saddened to learn that over 20 targets had been stolen from a decommissioned course. Making it worse was that the ashes of a former caretaker of the property had also been stolen. The targets have now been returned anonymously, along with a letter apologizing, but the ashes are still missing.
Ralph Rey is happy to have his tonal back after he designed it for his dying friend last year. It was used as a disc golf target and was one of 23 stolen Easter Weekend from a piece of land a local club used as a course just outside Courtenay.
The individually designed targets had sentimental value but the story was reported by CHEK news and local media because one particular tonal had also contained the ashes of Mike Barrett, a friend of the club and caretaker of the land the course was on.
“Removing it would have been very, very difficult and you have to bypass the ashes in a ziplock baggie right there so, good grief,” said club member and friend of Barrett’s Ralph Ney.
Then suddenly Tuesday morning the brightly painted targets, which are old propane tanks, suddenly reappeared, neatly placed in rows on a picnic table in Cumberland close to the first hole of the Cumberland disc golf course.
“I came right away because they’d been missing and we just wanted them right away in our possession so we got them as soon as we could,” said member Jim Cunningham.
Along with the targets, was a type-written note left by the person who took the targets, stating he or she never meant to cause harm, instead wanting to be a “Robinhood” and save them from “loss and abandonment”, adding “I am deeply ashamed of my actions.”
“That’s what the note says but I don’t know if I completely believe that because the disc golf club is not hard to find because we’re on the internet and if someone was trying to do this to preserve them as they say in the note it would have been easy to get in touch with us,” added Cunningham.
While the club is happy to have the tonals back, more importantly, the ashes are still missing. The note states the tonals were “100 PER CENT empty” when they were stolen.
“I find it hard to believe that they weren’t noticed but anyway I don’t want to challenge the person who did return it, thank you very much and if you recall where the ashes are please give them back,” said Rey.
CHEK News
