His raft and dog were found near the Rio Grande. The first was Randy Bilyeu of Colorado, who disappeared in early 2016 outside Santa Fe. A handful have found themselves in serious danger and in need of rescue. Some have drained their bank accounts and quit their jobs, determining the promise of a fortune was worth the risk. While many treasure seekers have done just that - pondering the poem together, working to unravel its riddles and then piling into SUVs armed with maps and GPS devices for a day in the forest - others have become obsessed, dedicating countless hours to the hunt. Instead, rangers from New Mexico State Parks cited him with destroying public property and other counts and ordered him to end his dig three feet from where he believed the treasure was resting.Ĭonway is one of thousands of people who have searched for the chest of gold, jewels and other valuable artifacts that Fenn, a Santa Fe author and antiquities dealer in his late 80s, claims he hid in 2010 somewhere in the Rocky Mountains north of Santa Fe.įenn gained fame after launching the hunt with the release of his memoir, The Thrill of the Chase, containing a poem he says is filled with clues about the location of the chest, reportedly holding a cache worth $1 million to $3 million.įenn has touted the hunt as an opportunity for families and friends to get out of the house, away from technology, and enjoy a wilderness adventure. That visit was Conway’s last, but it didn’t end with Fenn’s trove in his hands. The smell of dirt hung in the air there around the many holes left from his past attempts to unearth the treasure chest. We have emphasized safety all along the way and I think it has had a positive effect.He believed a May visit to the site, his 17th trek, would be his last: He would hit the right spot. Two of them had successfully visited the same location several times. "Even those who were lost didn't think they were overextending themselves at the time. "Most people do not disregard their safety when they search, and I get emails every day that say that," Fenn said in 2018, via email. He told HowStuffWorks that he believed most searchers were being responsible.
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Fenn told the Washington Post that he had never been in the part of the park where the accident occurred, and repeatedly said at that time, the treasure was not in a dangerous place. The death was ruled accidental - Murphy is believed to have lost his footing in the mountains, resulting in a 500-foot (152-meter) fall.įenn offered to help pay for a helicopter to aid in the search for Murphy. He was reported missing when he didn't check in with his wife, and his remains were found on June 9, 2017. Murphy had been hunting for the treasure for a few years and had been in contact with Fenn before his search.
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Murphy disappeared from Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 2017. Several treasure hunters went missing while attempting to find the chest, including hunter Jeff Murphy of Batavia, Illinois. The poem appeared in a self-published memoir called " The Thrill of the Chase." Fenn told Business Insider that the chest wouldn't be found by accident only a treasure hunter who correctly interpreted the clues would find it. But when his cancer went into remission, he put his plans on hiatus, eventually writing the poem that described his ideal resting place, which is where he hid the treasure.
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Fenn was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer in 1988 and had planned to die peacefully in the woods with his treasure. The treasure hunt was a modified version of an earlier idea. He was a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War and later amassed his wealth as a dealer in art and antiquities. The Man Who Started It Allįorrest Fenn, the man who started the hunt, lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The treasure hunt began when Fenn published a poem containing clues to the chest's location in 2010.