# Forrrest Fenn claims his treasure has been found. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 8, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230 "2020-06-08T04:51:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/1 "2020-06-08T04:51:44Z")
Forrest Fenn alleges that he hid a chest full of treasure in the mountains of New Mexico ten years ago, and gave out clues for people to find it. At least 5 people have died in the heat and the remote mountains, and thousands of people have searched for it. He now claims that it has been found. But there are lawsuits already being filed. > **[Fenn treasure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenn_treasure)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > > The Fenn Treasure was a cache of gold and jewels that Forrest Fenn, an art dealer and author from Santa Fe, New Mexico, hid in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. It was found approximately a decade later in 2020 in Wyoming by an anonymous treasure hunter later revealed to be former journalist and medical student Jack Stuef. In attempting to honor what he perceives to be Fenn's wishes after his death in September 2020, he has refused to re... > **[Forrest Fenn confirms his treasure has been found](https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/forrest-fenn-confirms-his-treasure-has-been-found/article_37006cfe-a8d7-11ea-8653-873ca96e31ef.html)** > > The Santa Fe author and artifacts dealer said he hid a chest full of goods in the Rocky Mountains in 2010. An estimated 350,000 people have gone on the hunt. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/2 "2020-06-08T04:59:48Z")
There goes my retirement plan! I’ve been following this for awhile now, and I’ll be interested to see how this shakes out. Thanks for posting. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/3 "2020-06-08T05:14:18Z")
Reading that article and its comments, man, there are a lot of butthurt people who didn’t find it! ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/4 "2020-06-08T14:43:39Z")
I have never heard of this, but what a fascinating story! I need to read more about this. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/5 "2020-06-08T14:58:51Z")
Far more people than that have died searching for hidden treasures. This guy is no more responsible for any of those deaths than Darwin is. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/6 "2020-06-08T15:30:20Z")
Many people have speculated over the last decade that it’s a hoax, and there is no treasure. That could still be true. I find it very convenient that the person who discovered it has chosen to remain anonymous. Unless I see evidence that the treasure was real, and that someone has found it, I am going to assume this was a hoax and he simply wanted this thing to end. Perhaps he felt guilt over the people who have died looking for it, and/or is fearful of lawsuits. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/7 "2020-06-08T15:59:18Z")
I’m not buying this ever existed either until I see some real evidence. But if it does exist, please tell me it was buried [under a big W.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r97Nv8N7-mI) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/8 "2020-09-10T12:31:29Z")
> **[Art dealer whose treasure sent hunters scouring US West dies](https://www.yahoo.com/news/art-dealer-whose-treasure-sent-193456161.html)** > > Antiquities dealer and author Forrest Fenn, who gained fame after hiding a treasure chest filled with gold, jewels and other valuables that drove hundreds of thousands of people to search remote corners of the U.S. West for the riches — sometimes... And now Fenn has died. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/9 "2020-12-08T03:32:29Z")
And now the person who claims to have found the treasure has come forward. > **[Man who found Forrest Fenn's famed treasure reveals identity](https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-found-forrest-fenns-famed-195935540.html)** > > "Since finding the treasure, I moved to a more secure building with guards and multiple levels of security," the finder said. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/10 "2020-12-08T04:14:38Z")
That is ofneof those missed opportunities that make me wonder if my chances of finding it would have been better, If I had started looking for it. ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/11 "2020-12-09T12:31:43Z")
As I read the Jack Stuef’s comment in the @telemark link that he: > …put it in a vault at a “secure location” in New Mexico. “It will remain there until I sell it,” he said. I’m not sure if this is a dumb question: isn’t he required to pay US federal or state income taxes on the money? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/12 "2021-07-06T14:13:58Z")
Update: looks like someone is upset > **[Lawsuit: Man who sparked treasure hunt retrieved own loot](https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawsuit-man-sparked-treasure-hunt-155608201.html)** > > A French treasure hunter has sued the estate of a Santa Fe, New Mexico, antiquities dealer who sparked a yearslong search across the American West by hiding a chest filled with gold, coins and other valuables. Bruno Raphoz is seeking $10 million in... ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/13 "2021-07-06T14:18:52Z")
Yeah, he claims that he found out where it was at, then it was moved. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/14 "2021-07-06T14:22:10Z")
I don’t have it handy but there was a long writeup on Fenn around the time he died that suggest he had a fairly long history of morally questionable behavior, which I think lends some credence to the idea the “treasure hunt” may have never been entirely on the up and up. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forrrest-fenn-claims-his-treasure-has-been-found/855230/15 "2021-07-07T15:35:01Z")
Outside Magazine did a feature on the guy who found the treasure back in December. > **[The Man Who Found Forrest Fenn's Treasure](https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/forrest-fenn-treasure-jack-stuef/)** > > The decade-long hunt captured the world's attention, but when it finally ended in June, everyone still wanted to know: Who had solved the mystery? This week, as legal proceedings threaten his anonymity, a 32-year-old medical student is ready to go on... The guy who wrote the article has also written a book which Outside has excepted. > **[How I Got to See Forrest Fenn’s Treasure with My Own Eyes](https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/chasing-the-thrill-forrest-fenn-treasure-daniel-barbarisi-excerpt/)** > > In an excerpt from his book ‘Chasing the Thrill: Obsession, Death, and Glory in America’s Most Extraordinary Treasure Hunt,’ journalist and searcher Daniel Barbarisi recounts how he got to open Fenn’s chest and examine what was inside There’s a podcast for it as well.