Hidden Treasure Chest Containing Gold and Gems is Found in the Rocky Mountains

Forrest Fenn, the millionaire who hid a treasure chest in the Rocky Mountains, says someone has finally found it. The riddle of the prize’s location is in a poem from his book, The Thrill of the Chase. John Burnett/NPR

After sitting undisturbed for more than 10 years, a treasure chest holding gold nuggets and precious gems has been found in the Rocky Mountains. The box was hidden by millionaire art dealer Forrest Fenn; his only clues included a map and a poem. But after countless quests, the search is over.

“The treasure has been found,” Fenn wrote in a statement to a blog run by Dal Neitzel for discussions among Fenn treasure seekers.

“It was under a canopy of stars in the lush, forested vegetation of the Rocky Mountains and had not moved from the spot where I hid it more than 10 years ago,” Fenn said. “I do not know the person who found it, but the poem in my book led him to the precise spot.”

The successful seeker has not come forward.

Forrest Fenn’s treasure was tucked away in an ornate, heavy Romanesque box that was filled with gold nuggets, gold coins and precious gems.
Courtesy of Forrest Fenn

“The guy who found it does not want his name mentioned. He’s from back East,” Fenn told The New Mexican in Santa Fe. The find was confirmed by a photograph, he added.

The search for Fenn’s hidden treasure became a sensation, luring tens of thousands of people to try to decipher the clues and embark on what they hoped would be a life-altering hike in the wilderness. But for years after the first clues appeared in Fenn’s self-published book, The Thrill of the Chase, no one could find the right spot.

For some, it became a dangerous obsession: In the process of looking for the trove that was said to be worth as much as $2 million, at least four people have died.

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SOURCE: NPR, Bill Chappell