Mere months after announcing to the world that his $1 million treasure chest had been found, author and antiques dealer Forrest Fenn has died.
Police told The Associated Press that Fenn died at his home in New Mexico on Monday of natural causes. He was 90.
Fenn left clues in his 2010 book “The Thrill of the Chase” about the location of a treasure chest filled with $1 million worth of gold and jewels that he hid somewhere in the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.
The treasure was found in early June after more than 10 years of being hidden. A previous report only said that the treasure finder was an anonymous man from “back East” who sent Fenn a picture of the chest to prove he actually found it.
A poem in Fenn’s book included nine clues on where to find the treasure. Fenn said the treasure was hidden in a 12th-century bronze chest that weighed 20 pounds by itself and was filled with 22 pounds of gold coins, gold nuggets and other valuables.
At least four people died in search of Fenn’s treasure over the years.
In July, Fenn confirmed the chest was found in Wyoming, but didn’t say exactly where.
“Until [the discoverer] found the treasure, the treasure had not moved in the 10 years since I left it there on the ground, and walked away,” Fenn wrote in a blog post in July. “Perhaps today’s announcement will bring some closure to those whose solves were in New Mexico, Colorado, or Montana.”
