Ten years ago, Forrest Fenn, an antique dealer from New Mexico, buried in the Rocky Mountains a $ 2 million hoard of gold coins, jewelry, and art by inviting hunters treasures to find it using clues contained in a poem.
The enthusiasm was such that thousands of candidates set out on the hunt and that 5 of them were killed during their quest until a happy rascal finally found him hidden in the middle of thick vegetation.
Authorities in New Mexico in 2017 invited treasure hunters to give up their dreams after the death of Paris Wallace, a pastor from Colorado, but Fenn did not want to end his challenge.
Fenn, now aged 89, had lodged indices in 2010 in his memoirs titled "the thrill of the hunt," where he buried his treasure, inviting candidates to find a bronze box of 13th century and its content through an enigmatic poem.
On this, 300,000 dreamers set out to pursue this treasure until one of them, who remained anonymous, ended up sending Fenn a photograph of the box containing gold powder, ingots, and jade. Chinese carved, pre-Columbian gold objects, ancient jewelry, gems, and other artifacts.
However, the discoverer was immediately sued by a female lawyer specializing in real estate who claimed to have first found the location of the treasure that it reached before her, claiming that he had followed her and grab it.
Meanwhile, Fenn had started the scavenger hunt to offer hope to people who lost their jobs during the 2008 recession by encouraging discovery of the wilderness without thinking that their nest egg could be found.
© Adrian Darmon
