The U.S. has a pretty diverse crime map. In New York you got the murders. In El Paso you got the cartel drugs. In Chicago you got the corruption.
And in Portland, Oregon, you got... well, you got this.
Mike Wallace has spent months scouring thousands of photos of a forest in Gresham, Ore., looking for clues to a mystery that has bedeviled the Portland suburb for more than a year: Who is the serial tree killer?
The natural-resources ecologist is hunting a criminal whom locals have nicknamed the "Gresham Lumberjack." Mr. Wallace estimates that someone has cut down more than 700 trees near a popular walking trail for no apparent reason, creating dangers for hikers and setting back years of restoration efforts.
Every crime lab in Oregon right now is analyzing bark samples like:
Thankfully, it looks like there might be a break in the case:
Recently, Mr. Wallace noticed something unusual. The same man was appearing in photos in every area where trees had been cut down. There was no photographic evidence of his sawing, but it was the biggest break yet in a case that has cost the city $250,000 to haul out the wood and plant new trees.
That's a good lead. But this is foolish. You never reveal the critical details of your case in public until you've basically put the collar on your criminal. The perp is gonna take one look at that report and start keeping a much lower profile from now on.
When they finally nab this guy they should sentence him to ten years' hard labor with the Arbor Day Foundation!
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