GIS Mystery Files
Solve real-world mysteries using maps, clues, and spatial reasoning.
Start Investigating// Priority Assignment
The Missing Hiker
A hiker disappeared during a weekend trip in a national park. The search team needs help narrowing the search area before nightfall.
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Start Your GIS Investigation Path
New to GIS mysteries? Follow this five-case path — each one teaches a core skill you will use in ArcGIS Pro and on the job.
The Missing Hiker
Learn to narrow a search area using last-known location and travel time.
Water Leak Investigation
Trace pipes and pressure complaints to find the most likely leak.
A Site for Lincoln Elementary
Stack constraint layers to pick the one parcel that passes every test.
Crime Hotspot Analysis
Find the cluster in the points and deploy patrol where it matters.
Oil Spill Investigation
Work upstream through layers to identify the contamination source.
// Case Archive
View all →The Missing Hiker
A hiker disappeared during a weekend trip in a national park. The search team needs help narrowing the search area before nightfall.
Water Leak Investigation
A city utility department is flooded with low-pressure complaints. Trace the network and find the most likely leak location.
Wildfire Threat
A wildfire has ignited near three communities. Read the wind, the fuel, and the terrain to predict which one is most threatened.
Oil Spill Investigation
Crude oil was discovered in a slow-moving bayou. Work upstream through the evidence to identify the contamination source.
Crime Hotspot Analysis
A string of late-night thefts is hitting downtown. Find the pattern in the points and pinpoint the hotspot for patrol deployment.
Nitrate in the Wells
Rural drinking wells are testing unsafe for nitrates. Follow the groundwater and find which operation is poisoning the aquifer.
The Vanished Kayaker
A kayaker never reached his takeout. Use current speed, a timeline, and river hazards to put divers in the right place.
Blackout on Feeder 12
A storm knocked out power to 800 homes. Trace the distribution network and tell the line crew exactly which span to drive to.
The 22:40 Hit-and-Run
A pedestrian was struck and the driver fled. Chain the camera sightings into a path and figure out where the damaged car went to ground.
The Sinking Street
Foundations are cracking across one neighborhood. Dig through the historic layers to find out what the houses were built on.
A Site for Lincoln Elementary
The district must pick a parcel for a new school. Stack the constraint layers and find the one site that survives every test.
The Weakest Crossing
A storm is hammering the rail corridor and a chemical train is due at midnight. Decide which bridge gets the emergency inspection.
The Silent Leak
Something invisible is killing vegetation in the gas field. Read the dead plants, the terrain, and the meter readings to find a buried leak.
Bloom at North Bay
A toxic algae bloom closed the lake's beaches. Sample the inflows, follow the phosphorus, and name the nutrient source.
Twelve Minutes of Water
A dam is showing seepage and three communities sit below it. Decide who gets the door-to-door evacuation teams first.
The Greenway Burglar
A serial burglar is working houses along a dark trail — on a schedule. Find the pattern and predict the next target block.
Lost at the Fair
A six-year-old wandered off at the county fair twenty minutes ago. Think like a lost child and direct the search teams.
Suds at the Outfall
Soap foam is pouring out of a storm sewer that should carry only rainwater. Trace the drainage tree upstream and find the illegal connection.
The Twelve-Minute Detour
The ambulance bridge is closed for six weeks. Measure the two detours — the shorter one on paper may not be shorter in an emergency.
Reading the Burn Scar
The fire is out. Now work backwards: from the shape of the scar, the wind, and three suspects, determine where it started.
Patrol at the Waterholes
Poachers are working a wildlife reserve from the boundary road. Find the pattern in the incidents and position the night patrol.
The Restock Run
Five market stalls restock counterfeit goods on the same afternoon schedule. Reverse-engineer the delivery loop and find the warehouse.
Threading the Corridor
Three pipeline corridors are on the table. Stack the constraints — wetlands, a fault, a town — and pick the one that can actually be built.
The Shelter Gap
The city can fund one new earthquake shelter. Find the gap where density, building risk, and missing coverage stack up.
The Pump Handle
A deadly outbreak is tearing through a crowded district. Map the cases, read the anomalies, and find the source — 1854 style.
The Runaway Slide
Terraced homes are cracking after three days of monsoon rain. Find which block sits on the slope that is actually moving.
The Whiteout Beacon
A ski party vanished in a whiteout avalanche. Three beacon hits — only one is the burial.
The Cascading Trip
A substation fault blacked out an industrial corridor and overloaded a residential feeder. Find the cascade origin.
The Territory Line
Robberies shifted east after a gang boundary moved. Find the new territory anchor point.
The Missing Middle
The council needs one infill site for twelve middle-density units. Four parcels are on the table — only one fits every constraint.
The Derailment Zone
A chlorine tank car derailed. Name the safe assembly point outside the plume with open road access.
The Stuck Pig
A pipeline inspection pig never reached the receiver. Find where it stalled.
The Rising Waters
The river is rising 12 cm per hour. Name the ward that floods first and must evacuate now.
The Forever Chemical
PFAS is in the monitoring wells. Trace the plume upgradient to the source.
The Cave Mouth
Three cavers are trapped behind a sump. Three entrances — only one has contact and airflow out.
The Overflow Event
A combined sewer overflowed into the harbour. Trace which catchment overloaded the branch.
The Matchstick Trail
Five dumpster fires in five nights along a vacant strip. Predict the next target.
The Contaminated Block
Three blocks are up for housing redevelopment. Only one is cleared for residential use.
The Congestion Knot
Reefer trucks are missing deadlines at the port. Find the fastest gate on the legal route.
The Tank Farm Leak
An oily sheen is in the farm drainage channel. Find which tank is losing level.
The Surge Line
Cat-3 surge is six hours out. One barrier gate must close to protect the canal district.
The Spreading Reed
Phragmites is marching down the distributary. Name the treatment zone at the invasion front.
The Ridge Line LZ
A climber has a femur fracture on the ridge. Pick the LZ the helicopter can use tonight.
The Ghost Load
Vacant apartments are drawing power at 4 AM. Find the theft hub transformer.
The Skimmer Ring
Card fraud spiked around Shibuya Station. Find the ATM at the center of the skimmer ring.
The Hot Block
The city has budget for one urban cooling tree planting. Pick the site that matters most.
The Empty Dock
Morning commuters are stranded — one dock is empty with 14 requests per hour. Name it for the rebalancing van.
The Flare Anomaly
A flare has burned continuously for 72 hours. Find the upset unit feeding it.
The Ember Front
Fire is pushing embers into the WUI. Name the zone that must evacuate before spot fires ignite.
The Compound Event
Monsoon flood meets landslide risk. Name the barangay facing both hazards.
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