Terri Kearns was walking her dog at Stickney Run Conservation Area outside McHenry in 2024 when she saw something weird – what looked to be a gun box – up in one of the trees.
Back in the parking lot, she saw a sign with the number to call and spoke to a McHenry County Conservation District officer. When the officer showed up, she walked with him to where she’d seen the box in the tree.
It turned out to be a geocaching box. But the officer appreciated that not only did she notice something wasn’t quite right, but that she called it in. The officer suggested that Kearns get involved with SWEEP, the district’s volunteer group that passively helps to deter crime inside its park.
The district has used volunteers since the early 1990s to help keep an eye on property such as the Prairie Trail, even before it was linked to run the length of McHenry County, district Chief of Police Ryan Stewart said.
“It gets more people – more eyes and ears – when we can’t be there all of the time,
