There was something afoul at the Halifax County 4-H Center this morning and campers will spend the rest of the week trying to solve the mystery.

The crime centers on a skull, a skull purportedly having powers to ward off ghosts that haunt the center without it, a counselor told the campers this morning.

Going outside, however, they found it was gone.

Long makes the call about stolen skull.

With no confessions, 4-H Director Joe Long had to do what he thought best — call law enforcement, which came within minutes.

Halifax County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jason Keeter and his dog Broady quickly found the skull after observing the crime scene and for the rest of the week the task is to find the culprit. A trial will be held Thursday night to determine guilt or innocence once a suspect is determined.

(The entire series of photos may be found at our photo gallery)

The CSI Camp is the last of eight held at the 4-H Center off Highway 903 this summer, Long said. “We have hundreds and hundreds (of children), probably some 300 to 500.”

The children who have gone through the eight camps have experienced everything from athletics to arts, Long said. “Last week we had a space camp and toured the Air and Space Museum. Congressman Butterfield led us on a tour of the capitol.”

This is the second CSI camp the 4-H Center has held. “We’re going to have some kind of mystery even Scooby-Doo would be proud of. We’ll be looking at DNA and fingerprints,” Long said.

Wiltsie, Sealey, Keeter and Long survey the scene.

The purpose of the camps, Long said, is to teach life skills that will carry campers from childhood to adulthood. “It’s about giving them experience and a hands-on education. We call it experiential education. It’s about sharing and teamwork.”

The CSI camp will hone science skills. “It’s taking things they’ve learned in school but doing it in a fun way.”

For the sheriff’s office, it’s a way to interact with the children and community, Detective Joseph Sealey said. “We don’t always get to act with the community in a positive setting. Any chance to help the kids we like to do it.”

The sheriff’s office will teach the campers fingerprinting through Tuesday. On Wednesday there will be a canine demonstration.

Sealey shows an alternative method for looking at prints.

This morning Sealey and Detective O.L. Wiltsie showed one class how detectives take fingerprints as other campers began working on solving the crime.

For Long the cooperation of the sheriff’s office is appreciated. “The sheriff’s office is great, the deputies have been great to help us out. They’ve been really good about helping us out. We don’t have to do anything. They always say yes.”