Everybody loves a story about a treasure needing to be found: The thought of finding something that someone else has hidden and taking whatever booty might be there? It just sounds fun! About six years ago, a man claimed to have hidden a treasure south of us in New Mexico. One fellow became obsessed with finding it, but died before he could see if he was right about its whereabouts.

A Vietnam veteran turned artist, art-collector and author, Forest Fenn, may someday wish he’d never even started this whole thing. He wrote his autobiography in 2010; in it, he included a poem that he claimed would lead to a treasure that he hid that’s worth about $2M. So, of course, people are out there all the time looking for this treasure, located somewhere in the Rocky Mountains near Santa Fe New Mexico.

Apparently, he put nine clues to finding the treasure into the poem. Clues. Hidden treasure. Adventure. It screams ‘Get off the couch and go find it!’ Many, many people have been out there trying to find it. Some have even claimed to have found it, but to no avail. Now, the lure of the treasure las led a man from Broomfield to his demise.

Randy Bilyeu, from Broomfield, was reported missing in January of 2016. His last whereabouts were along the Rio Grande River, on another of his many searches for the treasure.  Randy had moved to Colorado from Atlanta, to make it easier for his trips at attempting to find Fenn’s treasure. On July 26th, 2016, authorities reported that they had identified Randy’s body. Randy was 54. Randy traveled with his dog, Leo; who was found alive near Randy’s raft early in the search.

Fenn, himself, had been a part of the search to find Randy after he went missing; he even hired a helicopter and helped with provisions for other rescuers.  As it stands, the treasure is still out there, and Fenn still encourages folks to try and find it.

I can see myself getting caught up in searching for this treasure. I watch ‘ The Curse of Oak Island’, I like secrets being uncovered. This Fenn treasure calls to me, as it does thousands of others. I mean, it’s not that far away. Why NOT take a week off to head down there and see I can figure out the nine clues?

If I do give it a shot, hopefully, I'll return. Treasure or not.

Get more on Randy, his story, and read Fenn’s ‘clue-poem’ from 5380 Magazine.

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