The treasure of a rich old man who's either insane or very cool (maybe both) has been found after a decade-plus of wannabe fortune finders coming up short.
For added/very necessary context, a chest packed with jewelry gold, and other valuables, and worth in excess of $1 million, was located in the Rocky Mountains after various searchers up for a challenge had been looking for it for more than 10 years. For those thinking in their heads "I still don't really get this," here's some more background.
The chest was deliberately put there by 89-year-old art dealer/author Forrest Fenn, and his motivation was that he wanted people to engage in an old-school adventure. Through an announcement made on his website on Sunday, Fenn gave confirmation that "the search is over (...) the treasure has been found."
USA TODAYadds that Fenn didn't know the person who located the haul, but that a poem in his book was the clue that gave the hiding spot away. All that we know is that the man was from "back East." He declined to be named, though he did confirm his find with a picture emailed to Fenn.
“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 revealed. "I congratulate the thousands of people who participated in the search and hope they will continue to be drawn by the promise of other discoveries. Look for more information and photos in the coming days."
As for how many thousands he's talking about, over the years "an estimated 350,000 people" reportedly made an effort to locate the chest somewhere in the mountain range. What was known was that the treasure was north of Sante Fe, New Mexico (Fenn's hometown), and that many people tried to learn clues from his writing.
At least five people died while giving search, two more were rescued while close to death, and several others had run-ins with cops for doing various amounts of damage to national parks. On multiple occassions, authorities implored Fenn to cut the shit and reveal the treasure's whereabouts because, in their opinion, it was a danger to public safety.
Also, though it's been found, Fenn hasn't revealed where the exact hiding spot was. Perhaps that will be revealed in "the coming days," as somewhat hinted at above but, hey, the guy's kind of mysterious. You probably picked up on that.
Asked by the Sante Fe New Mexicanhow he feels now that his treasure has been located, Fenn said, “I don’t know, I feel halfway kind of glad, halfway kind of sad because the chase is over."
