Pokemon Go leads Teen to dead body

[Khadgar]

Thought it'd be awhile before stories like this started popping up.

"Pokemon Go" is a wildly popular new smartphone game that has players exploring their real-life neighborhoods.

And in rural Wyoming, it led a teenager to discover a dead man's body in a river.

Shayla Wiggins, 19, told CNNMoney on Saturday how it happened.

Like so many others, Wiggins was eager to play this version of the blockbuster 1990s Game Boy video game.
"Since it's virtual reality, I thought: that's cool," she said.

Pokemon Go uses augmented reality -- tapping your phone's camera to superimpose cute, virtual creatures in the real world. It was released on Thursday and has already been downloaded more than a million times on Android and Apple devices.

Wiggins started playing Thursday night, catching 50 virtual animals as she walked through a parking lot and a gas station.
Related: Nintendo's new idea for growth: Making movies

On Friday morning, she grabbed her iPhone 6 and slipped on a pair of sandals. Then she took a short walk to explore the Big Wind River, which winds behind her home in the town of Riverton.

"I was trying to get a water Pokemon," she explained.

The game cautions users to keep aware of their surroundings. But like most players, Wiggins stared intently at her phone as she made her way beneath the Wyoming Highway 789 Bridge.

She spotted two deer near the water -- but still no Pokemon. So, she walked down to the rocky river bank. She didn't immediately notice the man's body lying face down in the water six feet to her left.

"I guess I was only paying attention to my phone and where I was walking," she said.

When she finally realized she was standing near a corpse, Wiggins called the police and led them to the scene.

The Fremont County Sheriff's Office confirmed that it's investigating the man's death. Investigators think it's likely the man drowned at that spot, where the water is only three feet deep.

"The death appears to be accidental in nature," Undersheriff Ryan D. Lee said in a statement.

Police haven't publicly identified the man.

Shawna Wiggins told CNNMoney her daughter was "pretty scared and shaken," but is doing much better.

"I probably would have never went down there if it weren't for this game," Shayla Wiggins admitted. "But in a way, I'm thankful. I feel like I helped find his body. He could have been there for days."

Wiggins, who is working at a Dairy Queen for the summer before starting college in Arizona, said she still plans to keep playing Pokemon Go to explore her central Wyoming town.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/09/tech...-go-dead-body/

[Tempguy]

I'm sure the game wasn't a huge factor.

Going outside was the biggest factor. 20 years ago, we found shit like this all the time. It was even to the point where they started putting it in movies.


But good on pokemon for getting kids outside again.

[Halanad]

The question is did she catch a ghost pokemon as a result?

[Vapo]

PokemonGo is virtual reality? Okay then...

[Khadgar]

I wonder if she found a ghastly nearby.

Lmao, Kudos to you, +10.

[TheLimonTree]

PokemonGo is virtual reality? Okay then...

Augmented Reality actually. Difference being it applies virtual material on top of actual world stuff, rather than just a seperate world.

Similar to that one addon during ICC that Blizz had to purposefully break because it was too strong a tool.

[Vapo]

Augmented Reality actually. Difference being it applies virtual material on top of actual world stuff, rather than just a seperate world.

I know the difference :P. Are they 3D models that are actually looking as if they were in that space, or is it just a layer of a pokemon on your camera screen? In the game that is.

[Khadgar]

I know the difference :P. Are they 3D models that are actually looking as if they were in that space, or is it just a layer of a pokemon on your camera screen? In the game that is.

It's like this, you have the choice to use the camera mode or not.

[Vapo]

That Dragonite isnt in scale at all! Atleast compared to the one you see in the original series >:3. Wondering if that body she found was Missingno person.

[Tyranastus]

I'm more interested in the "50 Pokemon she caught in a parking lot and gas station". I haven't had that much success in one day even without a dead body, police report and news interview. Might have to make my way to a petrol station today.

[Vapo]

I'm more interested in the "50 Pokemon she caught in a parking lot and gas station". I haven't had that much success in one day even without a dead body, police report and news interview. Might have to make my way to a petrol station today.

Surprised they didnt sell some pokemon spawnrates to businesses that require you to pay to enter those areas. Or maybe they did and we just dont know about.

[Khadgar]

I'm more interested in the "50 Pokemon she caught in a parking lot and gas station". I haven't had that much success in one day even without a dead body, police report and news interview. Might have to make my way to a petrol station today.

She probably used the "Incense" or "Lure" item which attracts them to you.

[TheLimonTree]

I know the difference :P. Are they 3D models that are actually looking as if they were in that space, or is it just a layer of a pokemon on your camera screen? In the game that is.

It tries it's best to make it look like it's in the space, but mechanically it's just a 3d rendered model layered on top of your camera. Some times it looks good but if you aren't looking at an open space it'll look odd when they're standing on thin air.

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I'm more interested in the "50 Pokemon she caught in a parking lot and gas station". I haven't had that much success in one day even without a dead body, police report and news interview. Might have to make my way to a petrol station today.

Not quite the same, but I work in a mall and I could beat 50 easy if I caught every rattata and pidgy I saw.

[Crissi]

So since the discussion is going toward discussion of the game itself anyways, we already have a thread on the game itself here:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...emon-GO/page30

closing.