Did Someone Finally Find Forrest Fenn’s Buried Treasure?

Hidden for a decade, now that the legendary chest has been found, treasure hunters are upset they’re not getting the answers they feel they deserve.  

By Jessie Schiewe

In case they miss the blurb, which is buried in the middle of the website’s homepage, there’s now a pop-up window that alerts visitors of the big news. “The search is over!” it says. 

Forrest Fenn’s legendary buried treasure has been found. 

Fenn is an eccentric New Mexico author and retired antiquities dealer who buried a treasure chest “in the mountains somewhere north of Santa Fe” 10 years go.

That same year, he self-published the autobiographical book, “The Thrill of the Chase: A Memoir." The short stories contained within the book and the coded, 24-line poem at the end were said to contain clues that revealed the chest’s whereabouts if deciphered correctly. 

Over the years, thousands of people attempted to find the buried money and other valuables estimated to be worth more than $1 million. Some quit their jobs to hunt for the fabled chest. Others emptied their bank accounts to fund search trips or saw their marriages dissolve because of it. Depending on which publication you read, anywhere from four to seven people have died in their pursuit of the bounty over the last 10 years. 

And now the hunt is over.

According to the June 6th announcement on Fenn’s website, a man from “back East” who didn’t want to be named had found the legendary chest a few days earlier. 

“I do not know the person who found it, but the poem in my book led him to the precise spot,” Fenn wrote in his short post. “So the search is over.” 

Exactly where the chest was found has not been disclosed, but many think the poem’s clues lead to Dinosaur National Monument on the Utah-Colorado border near Wyoming. A photo of the treasure and its finder haven’t been shared yet either, although Fenn’s blog post does advise readers to “look for more information and photos in the coming days.”

One thing we do know about whoever found the treasure is that they’re strong and able to lift at least 40 pounds, which is the combined weight of the chest and its contents. Fenn, who turns 90 in August, told The New Mexican that he buried and packed the contents of the chest by himself over two separate trips, while also adding new items over the years, like rare coins and gold nuggets. 

The chest, which measures 10-inches by 10-inches, also reportedly contained pre-Columbian animal figures, prehistoric hammered gold “mirrors,” ancient Chinese carved jade faces, and antique jewelry with rubies and emeralds. 

The treasure chest alone weighs 20 pounds. (Credit: Flickr/Puuikibeach)

Many who sought the buried treasure unnecessarily placed themselves in danger searching for the thing. They seemed to forget that Fenn was 79 years old and alone when he originally placed it in the ground. Fenn even stated that it was not buried in a dangerous location or anywhere that a man of his age couldn’t reach. But, from the couple who used a swimming-pool-grade raft on the Green River (and needed to be rescued) to the man who rappelled down the side of the Grand Canyon (and was later arrested), there were many who either disregarded his advice or didn’t believe it, ultimately making the search harder on themselves than it needed to be. 

Rescuers, for one, are glad that the treasure hunt is over. Over the last decade, they’ve come to the aid of treasure hunters on numerous occasions, and oftentimes more than once. In 2013, 2015, and 2016, rangers in Wyoming rescued the same Virginia woman. And this past February and March, two men traveling on snowmobiles and carrying only a few bottles of water and chocolate bars, called for rescue twice. The second time rescuers came, one of the men, 53-year-old Michael Sexson, had died. 

According to the Denver Post, rescue crews are “relieved” that people will no longer “be out endangering themselves.” 

Because even though Fenn claimed to have hidden the treasure somewhere easily reachable by an old man, the Rockies’ rugged terrain can prove challenging to hikers of any level, especially novices who have only been lured outdoors by the promise of riches. 

This poem in “The Thrill of the Chase” is said to contain nine clues on where to find the buried treasure.

“You have lightning, bears, cliffs, thermal areas. Lodgepole pine trees aren’t known for staying standing — they come down easy. There have been people killed by all of those methods over the years,” a backcountry guide in Yellowstone told the newspaper. “You definitely have to be prepared and you should know what you’re doing.”

Relatives of those who have lost their lives pursuing the treasure — such as 54-year-old Randy Bilyeau who died trying to navigate the cold waters of the Rio Grande River on an inflatable floatie — begged Fenn to stop the treasure hunt. But he wouldn’t. 

Although the deaths were “tragic,” calling it off, he said, would be unfair to others who had spent time and money looking for the chest. 

Instead, Fenn warned the seekers of his treasure to be better prepared, advising them not to go into the mountains in winter, to carry a GPS device, and to “always be aware of possible dangers.” 

Read: “How a RECLUSIVE Hermit in the Woods of Maine Ended Up In Jail”

News that the chest was found has devastated many. One treasure hunter was in the car with her husband and two sons, on their way to where she believed the treasure was, when she heard the news. 

“I just turned around,” Miriam de Fronzo told The New York Post. “I was so disappointed.”

Barbara Andersen, a lawyer in Chicago who made 20 trips to New Mexico and shared her findings with Fenn over emails, was equally upset. 

“This is all really heartbreaking. When I heard the news last week, I just freaked out,” she said. 

Speaking on behalf of a 4,000-member strong Facebook group dedicated to searching for the chest, a Florida realtor named Terry Kasberg painted a grim picture of how the seeker community is doing in the wake of the treasure’s discovery. 

“It has left everyone in a depressed state of mind,” he said. 

Fenn’s vagueness in sharing details about the person who found the treasure has also sown doubt among those who’ve sought his treasure. As they see it, the author has yet to “show proof” that the treasure was actually found — or that it existed in the first place.  

“Why aren’t you showing us the picture?” Kasberg rhetorically asked The New York Post. “Everyone is really concerned because there is a real lack of transparency.”

Linda Bilyeu, the ex-wife of Randy Bilyeu, one of the people who died looking for the treasure, has long been skeptical of Fenn and his claims of having buried treasure somewhere in the Rockies. 

“I believe he never hid the treasure,” she told the alternative-weekly newspaper, Westword. “He needed attention and this is how he got it. Fenn needed more attention, which is why he said the treasure has been found with ‘no proof.’ ”

Other than the short blog post and sidebar window, there have not been any new updates about the treasure chest on Fenn’s website, and the Facebook page for “The Thrill of the Chase” hasn’t been updated since 2018. 

There’s no telling if the day will ever come when Fenn tells us more about the person who finally cracked his code, or if we’ll even get that promised photo. 

But one thing’s for sure: Fenn’s mission was a success. Not only did someone actually find his concealed riches, but the existence of the treasure alone inspired tons of people to “get off their couches” and explore the great outdoors, which was his main goal from the start. 

“Many people don’t have experience hiking in the mountains, but that doesn’t mean they should stay home,” he told Westword. “Just be careful and don’t get overextended.” 

Now that his treasure has been found, Fenn also can’t help but feel a bit torn. 

As he told the Associated Press:

“I don’t know. I feel halfway kind of glad, halfway kind of sad, because the chase is over.” 

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