The Baldwin County community came together in Herty Hall Sept. 8, to narrow down the list of suspects who kidnapped GCSU bobcat mascot Thunder.
Taking on the role of forensic detectives, children and adults came together to explore the crime scene, meet the suspects and discover what happened to Thunder in the kidnapping case. “Everybody loves crime scene shows on TV, and we wanted to bring it to life for our campus and community,” said Dr. Catrena Lisse, chemistry professor and director of the Science Education Center in a press release.
“Who Kidnapped Thunder?” was hosted to celebrate National Forensics Science Week and introduce the community to GCSU’s new forensic chemistry program, started in 2021. The event was sponsored by GCSU Public Safety, Athletics and the Student Government Association (SGA).
“I am so proud of everyone who partnered with us to record the videos, run the stations, create the crime scene, suspect photos and more,” said Lisse.
According to the press release, eight STEM majors volunteered to help conduct experiments. Three students, who are taking GCSU’s Trace Evidence and Materials Analysis class, helped design crimescene evidence and experiments. They also recorded background videos with chemistry professor Dr. John Trombley. The SGA also created content for videos used to set the scene of the crime.
“I plan these events to engage the community in what we are doing and to offer students who may be curious about these topics a chance to explore and enjoy them,” said Lisse.
The night began with participants climbing to the third floor of Herty Hall and having their fingerprints placed on individual ID cards. Then, the group followed footsteps pasted on the floor to a large television in the hallway. A news broadcast was played showing the report of Thunder’s kidnapping, some witness interviews and an overlook of his last scene location.
The broadcast announced six key suspects in the case: Billy Bob Beaver, Brutus Bear, Charlie Coyote, Conan Cougar, Rusty Raccoon and Stinger Skunk. These mascots were suspected of kidnapping Thunder to prevent him from winning the “Best Mascot” national award.
After the broadcast ended, participants followed the footsteps on the floor to a large lab room. To the left of the door was a print of all the mugshots of the suspected mascots. When turning to their right, they were met by several lab assistants leading the five lab stations.
Each station featured evidence collected from the crime scene for attendees to analyze or match, including blood analysis, tire impressions, shoe impressions, fingerprint analysis, hair samples, fiber samples, paw prints and fur samples. As investigators went through each station, they used their notes sheet (provided at the beginning of the night) to narrow down the suspects.
“I narrowed down my suspects to Brutus Bear or Rusty Raccoon,” said Mikaylie Hadden, criminal justice and psychology major. “This event relates to what I want to do as a career, and it has been very insightful and interesting to take part in.”
Once investigators left the final station, they would write down their conclusion of who kidnapped Thunder and then scanned a QR code for the answer. In the outgoing video, it is revealed that Brutus Bear was indeed the offender, with a short clip of her being arrested shown after.
“Forensics Night was fun and very interactive,” said studio arts major Ansley Rowland. “I got to explore how real investigators interpret evidence to figure out who was behind a crime, which was super cool. It was also heartwarming to see so many people come together and participate in an event hosted by my college.”
According to Lisse, plans are already in place to hold more community events similar to “Who Kidnapped Thunder?” and she hopes the community will be just as involved as they were last Wednesday.
“We had a greater turnout than expected for this event and I am just so glad to see this night so well received by our community,” said Lisse. “Thank you to everyone who participated and worked with our lab to investigate and rescue Thunder!”