"The critter had gotten in and left its little paw print in the tracks, so we knew it was a raccoon," said the organizer of the baked goods competition.
Locals are on the lookout for a masked outlaw dubbed the “Baked Goods Bandit” that left sugar-dusted paw prints after its crime spree through an Ohio county fair.
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Organizers at the Great Geauga County Fair awoke Thursday to find seven of the 11 cakes that would be judged for Best in Show later that day nibbled on and chewed through.
The only clue he left behind are a pair of delicate raccoon-sized paw prints across the icing of one of the cakes.
“The critter had gotten in and left its little paw print in the tracks, so we knew it was a raccoon,” said Anne Blair, who runs the baked goods display at the fair. “What we think happened was he possibly got in right before we got there so he wasn’t able to finish his indulging.”
She told InsideEdition.com that the fair received 932 entries for their cake competition, and the finalists were placed in the display box.
“The case looked absolutely beautiful,” she said. “It was full and I was so excited for people to see it. That’s the big highlight for our department.”
On Wednesday morning, Blair said staff noticed four pieces of bread and three cookies were eaten out of the cases.
The next day, Blair said she was the first to arrive and notice the disaster.
“I was really upset when I first saw it,” she said. “We never saw the suspect but it left its paw prints behind.”
In hopes of catching the masked bandit, Blair put together wanted posters, which seemed to lighten the mood for disappointed contestants.
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“People take a lot of pride in what they make, and it took a disappointing situation into a comical situation,” she explained. “We’re in the middle of the country, there’s obviously raccoons and skunks and everything everywhere, so it didn’t surprise me.”
She also explained locals often speculate the name of their town "Geauga" was named after the indigenous word for "raccoon" to reflect the large population of the nocturnal mammal in the area.
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