Not So Nice to See You
Friday, July 01, 2005
A 14-year-old girl spotted something strange in the waste tank of a New Hampshire outhouse — a man's face staring back up at her.
Police said Gary Moody, 45, of Gardiner, Maine, was standing in the ladies' room collection tank wearing hip waders, according to the Kennebec Journal of Augusta, Maine.
"You can draw your own conclusions as to the conditions we encountered," Capt. John Hebert of the Carroll County Sheriff's Department told WMUR-TV of Manchester, N.H.
The girl was about to use the facilities around noon on Sunday at a log-cabin rest stop near Albany on the Kancamagus Scenic Byway (search), which runs through the White Mountain National Forest (search).
"It's a very filthy environment, and before we put anybody in contact with him, we had to decontaminate him," said Hebert, explaining why Moody was hosed off before being handcuffed. "We treated him as if he were hazardous material."
Police noted that since the door to the holding tank was locked from the outside, Moody must have crawled in through the toilet seat. It wasn't clear how long he'd been in there.
"He just must be sick to put yourself in that muck," said tourist Harriett Voysey of New Jersey. "Disgusting."
Moody was charged with criminal trespass, posted $250 bail and was forbidden from going within 100 yards of U.S. Forest Service (search) property. He goes to court July 19.
"I started in this business in 1980," noted Hebert, "and I have never in my career encountered anybody in this type of situation."