At least five people have died attempt to find it , but the hunt is likely over . Forrest Fenn , an 89 - class - onetime art and old geezer trader in New Mexico , annunciate that someone last find the $ 1 million treasure chest he shroud in the Rocky Mountains roughly a decennary ago .
“ The hombre who constitute it does not desire his name cite . He ’s from back East , ” Fenn told theSanta Fe New Mexicannewspaper over the weekend , apparently speaking like an old - timey character in a John Ford horse opera .
Fenn told the New Mexican that the unnamed hoarded wealth hunter sent him a photo that prove he had indeed found the collection of goods , but Fenn declined to show the photo to the newsprint .
In this 15 January 2025 file photo, eccentric antiques dealer Forrest Fenn sits in his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.Photo: (AP)
Fenn first announced in 2010 that he had hidden an estimated $ 1 - 2 million Charles Frederick Worth of gaffer , gold nuggets , and ancient artifact in a box when he published his self - bring out memoir , The Thrill of the Chase . Fenn has only said that his treasure was in the Rocky Mountains , north of New Mexico and Confederate States of America of Canada , and somewhere above 500 substructure elevation .
Fenn gave out clues to where he hid the treasure in the form of a verse form in his memoir , but he did n’t reveal until 2017 that the hoarded wealth dresser weighs around 20 pound while the treasure inside weigh another 22 pounds . The antiques trader has appeared on mainstream news groove likeABC News , sparking even more interest in the gem hunt . It ’s unclear how much money Fenn has made in sale from his Koran .
Many people have doubt that Fenn enshroud the gem at all , and Fenn ’s claim that the sleuthhound wants to remain anonymous likely wo n’t assuage the skeptics — especially since Fenn wo n’t release the picture that supposedly show the treasure was found .
Fenn originally planned to bury himself in the box along with the treasure when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer , according to a2017 articlein the New York Times , but that all changed when he survived . An estimated 350,000 the great unwashed have look for for the gem in the past decade , harmonize to the New Mexican .
Not everyone has enjoyed Fenn ’s hoarded wealth hunt , obviously . One 2017 letter to the editor of theTaos Newsin New Mexico even ring Fenn “ New Mexico ’s own interlingual rendition of Donald Trump ” for his desire to get publicity at any cost . Some police departments have take that Fenn end the gem hunt after legion death and near - last .
At least five mass died essay to rule Fenn ’s treasure . The body of Paris Shane Wallace , a 52 - twelvemonth - old pastor from Colorado was found in New Mexico in thesummer of 2017 . Wallace ’s wife confirm that he had been hunting for the hoarded wealth pectus . And Jeff Murphy , a 53 - class - former resident of Illinois , pass in Yellowstone National Park during that same summertime . Murphy reportedly decease after falling 500 feet from a cliff in the park .
The oldtimer dealer has repeatedly read that while he does n’t wish how the great unwashed have died , he never believed it would be good to end the hunt .
“ living is too short to break both a belt and suspenders , ” Fenn told the New York Timesin 2017 . “ If someone drowns in the swimming consortium we should n’t debilitate the pool , we should teach masses to swim . ”
Fenn has also been process for allegedly give out false clue about the hidden treasure , something that will likely be probed if the person who observe the treasure ever comes onwards .
How does Fenn find about his flakey gem hunting being over after so much international attention ?
“ I do n’t know , I feel midway kind of glad , halfway kind of sad because the following is over , ” Fenn tell the New Mexican .
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