2010 MPT1200 engine timing issue...need tech help

[cmar143]

I am a golf course mechanic and I got a call that our ball picking cart wouldnt run. Its a 2010 MPT 1200 with a Kawasaki engine. I went to check it out and it was backfiring and blowing air from all orifices like it was out of time. Valves were working correctly and push rods are straight. I just got the engine out and apart and sure enough thats the problem but I have never seen an engine out of time where the cam gear wasnt stripped otherwise how is it physically possible? I have attached a couple pictures because I couldnt get the timing dots to show well in just one picture unfortunately. But in the pictures I have the crank and balancing shaft dots lined up but as you will see the cam dot on the crank shaft is about 4 gear teeth to the right of the keyway on the crank. The dot on the actually camshaft is at the bottom right of one of the pictures or on the opposite side from the crank. I have two questions here...first how could this happen without any broken parts. And second does anyone know what position both timing marks on the crankshaft should be? I am wondering if its possible that one of the gears on the crankshaft has come loose somehow causing the engine to come out of time without breaking or stripping gears. Any help on this would be appreciated especially since I obviously dont want to just fix the timing issue, get it back together and have it happen again somehow. Thanks