in a national park is supposed to be turned in to the park supervisor. The number of people who go to the point that they were neglecting their home lives was pretty rare. POWELL The identity of the "finder" of Forrest Fenn's famed treasure has been revealed as Jack Stuef, a 32-year-old Michigan resident, though the location remains a mystery. You have stated that the blaze was damaged by nature and that you didnt initially recognize it as the blaze even 6 feet away. At this point, they've done a good job at figuring out the bounds of what I feel I can responsibly share about my . He also confirmed his find on his Twitter account. He remembered one but not the other. As for his past, Jack graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in English in 2010 before starting his career as a writer. It doesnt even rhyme completely. McCracken claims this was made possible by Fenn buying a property near his search spot to keep tabs on McCrackens hunt. No, there are no plans to disclose the location of the chest and its final resting place besides "in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming". Karl Sommer, the lawyer for Fenns estate, put it differently. Jack Stuef is the native of Michigan and medical school student who found Forrest Fenn's treasure chest in 2020 at an undisclosed location in Wyoming. In the summer of 2020, the decade-long Forrest Fenn treasure hunt ended in a tangled mess of conspiracy theories, wild accusations, and protracted legal proceedings. At this point Im just looking for some personal satisfaction at solving it for myself. If so, was this info part of the ancillary evidence that aided you in the search? And you can feel that when youre looking through it. He, needs Stuef to say that he solved the clues in the poem fair and square. In April, assistant U.S. attorney Kimberley Bell filed a motion to intervene in McCrackens case, arguing that publicizing the exact location of Fenns treasure would result in a surge of visitors and damage to the park. It clearly impacted [Stuef] in a major way. Hopefully this will lay to rest the turmoil experienced by seekers, speculators, and everyone who loved the idea of The Thrill of The Chase. 4. Overall, he saw it as a force for good and wanted to protect it. Gotta say Im 10% jealous, but 90% thrilled for you. Its not always easy being the finder, but its heartening to see how many great people are out there. According to the CNN article released 1 hour ago; "Stuef said he'll never reveal the location where he found the chest to preserve the wildlife there and prevent other explorers from following his trail, which could be dangerous." 2. I think a lot of people would come to see it, and it would give a lot of closure to a lot of people. Fenn wouldnt say who found the treasure. There are some little nuggets of evidence in his quotes, but theyre not as important as that big-picture stuff. And it works as a poem that tells a coherent story. Good to hear youre ignoring the negativity. Dont let any of that get to you. Barbarisi reveals that The Finder is ready to lose his anonymity. 5. Fenn really did curate the box. I think that may narrow down things too much if I say yes or no, but I can say the whole time I was searching for the blaze and treasure in the forest, I did not step foot on a human trail. For information on a specific SEPTA route, view the real-time system status. Thats the reason or excuse to search for it, but not the why. In July 2020, one month after the chest was found, I wrote an article about the four best theories on Fenns treasure location. It was right there this whole time. And that can be a very hard feeling to shake, and then comes some mania with that who feel more urgency in their need to find it. I watched your video on confirmation bias and thought it was extremely helpful. Profiling all this and much more, CBS 48 Hours: The Fenn Treasure shows us precisely what went down with several of the individuals involved in the hunt, most notably, the one who found it, Jack Stuef. For a treasure hunt that was supposed to be real-life Indiana Jones. (I even planned hunts and rockhounding adventures in the area before the treasure was found, just in case, you know, Id stumble across it.). Did Forest know when you spoke to him that hed made an error in the past? My best guess is at Amelia Earharts cabin near Meeteetse. It turned out to be Jack Stuef, a. If everyone knew about those deaths in the time as they happened, as opposed to the information trickling out over six months, I think it would have been shut down in 2017. The online community plays a part in that. In my opinion, the MOST IMPORTANT CHAPTER IS FLYWATER! But, Michigan native Jonathan "Jack" Stuef has now made his identity public after a federal court order against Fenn's estate would have made his name public. Jack Stuef, a 32-year-old medical student at the time, found the treasure in 2020. The Fenn treasure hunt began in 2010, when the wealthy art dealer hid a chest filled with gold and jewels from his personal collection somewhere in the Rocky mountains, then published a 24-line poem containing clues to its location. The vast majority of searchers have been kind and respectful of the responsibility I have to protect the location where the treasure was secreted (and, therefore, the answers to the clues that lead there). I didnt have any questions for you at first but I do have one now. For a little more than a decade, hundreds of thousands of people searched for a box of gold, jewelry, and rare coins hidden by the eccentric art dealer Forrest Fenn. I mean for me my location, Browns Canyon Colorado, one that I visited 40 plus times in 4 years, was derived entirely from the poem, but I was obviously wrong. Whoever found the treasure would have to maneuver very carefully if they wanted to keep it. I think I can answer that either way and people would quibble if they knew all the answers. In an effort to prove that Fenn didnt move the treasure, his lawyer revealed that Fenn told Yellowstone National Parks chief ranger, Sarah Davis, where it was hidden. Thanks Dean. A lot of the trouble people ran into was searching at the wrong time of the year. Ive answered a number of questions since the last installment of Jack Gets Mail that I thought were particularly illuminating or would be of interest to the wider group of searchers, so Ive put together another roundup of those emails. I understand if you dont have the time to answer, I appreciate you taking the time to answer my first email. If youre saying that its just straight forward, loose and vague interpretations of waypoints for each clue then why would Forrest always tell us to study every word? And Stuefs first email reads like it was written by a committee of lawyers. Maybe you can ask the DIA if they have a key for their version of the chest. So probably not. He has pictures of himself and the treasure chest with Forrest Fenn. If I were in your shoes I might get my name changed and start a brand new life! One accused Fenn of ending the hunt on purpose and lying when he announced the treasure was found in Wyoming. He says he feels an obligation to the community to at minimum disclose which state the treasure was found. There was this one instance where another hunter and I were down in Bear Canyon in New Mexico. More than a decade ago, in 2010, an eccentric art dealer and author, Forrest Fenn, announced that he had hidden a treasure of gold and jewels in the Rocky Mountains of the United States by publishing a 24-line poem, or riddle, in his memoir The Thrill of the Chase. So, of course, from here, began a journey of searches that resulted in everything from marriages to deaths. (Read more Forrest Fenn treasure stories.). I was doing a dual-purpose thing. He was 90 years old. I seen in another email you sent, that you had been within 6 of the treasure at one time on a previous search. One last question referring to your previous answer, if you dont mind! In many cases, they were people who felt like they were underappreciated or have not gotten their due in life. He found the chest and gold in the summer of 2020. Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park is seen on October 5, 2020 in Larimer County near Fort Collins, Colo. Helen H. Richardson/Denver Post via Getty Images, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. That was a healthy way to approach it. And thats when I learned that a 32-year-old Michigan native and medical student was the person who had finally solved Fenns poem. My question is,. Then you get out there in the wilderness and realize you have two ideas, you need nine, and youre basically just out for a walk. You did what thousands of us could not. And that's when I learned that a 32-year-old Michigan native and medical student was the person who had finally solved Fenn's poem. I didnt ask him that, but it wouldnt surprise me. Finding this thing, achieving this will prove every naysayer wrong. Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. He admitted that he first heard about the treasure on Twitter in early 2018 and couldnt believe that it had escaped his notice for so long. The treasure was filthy, and dirt got all over the interior bag I had it in. Were there instructions in the chest about how to proceed? It was still a trickle of information. Once it morphed into that, I think Fenn had recognized that, for better or for worse, it was his thing and nothing was going to take this away from him and he took that personally. I think some people read too much into that 15 years comment. But now the most recent Fenn lawsuit has shown that Fenn did actually tell someone exactly where the treasure was, very soon after it was found. Thats definitely one of the lines. The only hints he provides about the bountys location are that its between 5,000 and 10,200 feet in elevation, is located near trees, and that he hauled it there himself in two trips. Hardcover $28, 368 pages, published by Knopf. 2. I would say he uses the semicolon correctly there as a connection of ideas in the stanza. It took two months of correspondence before the man who found Forrest Fenns treasure told me his name, Barbarisi writes. "Ive probably thought about it for at least a couple hours a day, every day, since I learned about it," Stuef said. A 32-year-old medical student has been identified as the finder of a million-dollar treasure that evaded seekers for more than a decade. The managerial and administrative aspects, along with the study hours actually required to be successful in the course, are what we think it refers to. Members get 15+ publications right in your pocket. Its strange but yes, it seems like something that very much colored [Stuefs] hunt. Im aware that over the years you have intimated that you may like to give these items to the person who found it, Stuef wrote. Address. When it did happen, he was in it. More specifically, I suspected it was somewhere around the town of Gardiner, which sits less than a mile from the parks north entrance. Q3 If everything went as FF had first planned and took his life at the spot. After all, Jack had been obsessed with solving real-life mysteries that coupled monetary prizes since he was a kid. 3. I left a nice tip. So while he remained guarded about his solve and the location where he discovered the treasure, he now didn't mind telling me who he really was. Also, Fenn said the person who find it would have analyzed and then moved with confidence. In 2020, Fenn simply announced. 1. He declined to comment until his case is resolved, and its set to begin proceedings in June. 3. 2023-04-25 14:28 HKT. It took nearly a decade since hed buried it in 2010 for someone to untangle all the clues hed left on his website and in the poem, but a man from back east, Forrest stated, who wished to remain anonymous, had finally done it. The McCracken lawsuit made public photos of the chest in situ, still embedded in the ground, as well as. One last thing, did you find it strange to see a rusty pair of scissors in the chest? Did realize and try to backtrack? By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. French treasure hunter is suing Forrest Fenn's estate for $10million after claiming he was cheated out of finding hidden chest filled with gold and coins because it was MOVED after he solved. "Every day.". A different one accused the chests then anonymous finder of hacking a plaintiffs emails and texts to steal the solution. CHEYENNE, Wyo. Hi Jack, I hope you had a Merry Christmas, I have two questions concerning the final clue that you might entertain answering. Its that concept of a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.. I havent measured the area I searched. He clearly planned for this (like wax sealing the glass olive jar). You would think so. I dont get off on being withholding. Watersas in a designated body of water(s) rather than simply a plural form of water? Compilation: Mintina. But I would just like to know 2 things. But then, it also seems like Stuef knew he was going to find the treasure long before he did. The finder identified himself Monday in a. Wow, so congrats on doing what so many of us crazy searches tried and failed. Did you figure out hoB before you ever went BOTG to your search area? Thanks again Jack and completely understand if I dont hear back from my question. Even when Im theoretically detached and floating above it all, Im not. Did the solve involve the use of synonyms for words found in the poem clues? It was at least good because nobody was looking there. Address for ZIP Code of Address; ZIP Code of Address City; ZIP Code of Address State However, the finder understands how important closure is for many searchers, so today he agreed that we should reveal that the treasure was found in Wyoming.. That place will be hidden for the ages. Jack Stuef is the verified finder of the Fenn treasure chest. His view seemed to be that the location of the treasure became public information when Fenn published his poem. Fenn had this conversation with Davis in 2020 after the treasure was found by Stuef. Jack briefly communicated with Forrest over emails, but he did not know him personally until the chest find and had not met him in person. The Yellowstone revelation isnt surprising. He quickly identified the area of interest in Wyoming and spent 25 days over the next two years searching the location. I can fall victim to theories and wanting to believe just as much as everyone else. No, Jack Stuef did not know Forrest Fenn before finding his treasure chest. And Stuefs first email reads like it was written by a committee of lawyers. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. A DuckDuckGo extension in your browser, please access Newser without it: Either by removing it, whitelisting us, or using another browser. In support of that motion, Davis signed an affidavit stating Fenn and Stuef revealed the location to her in August 2020 and that upon visiting itit's never stated that the treasure is indeed within the parkshe found the spot could not handle an influx of visitors. June 16, 2020 Fenn posts three photos of him with the treasure in what appears to be a lawyers office. But mostly what informed me was studying his words. You all deserve to finally move forward and live in peace. And no, Jack is not revealing the final resting place of the treasure chest. Why Ultralight People Need to Chill Already, Kershaw Iridium Review: A Great Flipping Knife Under $100. According to a report, though, it seems like he dislikes almost everything about the medical field apart from treating patients. First of all, Congratulations! It was during Jacks early years in the scientific medical program that he got into Forrest Fenns treasure chase and could not let go. Although, I can speak for myself that I had a lot of fun and many times felt like Alice in Wonderland :). Stuef found it on June 6 in Wyoming -- two years after his quest began -- in the place where Fenn wrote that he wished to die. 1. After his death, Stuef published an ode to Fenn on Medium under the byline "The Finder." 1. Jack first learned of the treasure hunt in 2018 from tweets. Department of Environmental Protection. I spent the last 7 summers working out in Wyoming, looking for the treasure in my spare time. 2010 - Fenn, an 80-year-old art dealer and writer, announces that he's hidden a treasure worth $2 million in the Rocky Mountains. (Not I, I assure you!). A lawsuit against the late Forrest Fenn's estate revealed that his $1 million treasure chest was buried in Yellowstone National Park A Florida treasure hunter claims Fenn moved the treasure. June 6, 2020 Fenn writes on his blog that the treasure has been found. That means that unless the government intervenes, say through a federal court injunction, Stuef will be questioned under oath. As far as you know, is that a true statement? By Julia Jacobo December 8, 2020, 11:16 AM 2:19 National headlines from ABC News Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Thats not too much to give away because theres a million canyons. He wrote what he wanted to say. Today, I looked at my inbox, and I have received over 2,400 emails from searchers. He also said that he selected the treasure location with care: I considered mudslides, forest fires, earthquakes, and floods. These statements set up a few questions that I think are safe for you to answer: 1. It may have been bigger than a football field, but keep in mind thats the total limits of what I thought was possible. But didnt Fenn say that although we should always be careful (or something to that sense), the treasure is NOT in a dangerous place? So what was it that gave you so much confidence that your location was correct that you visited it 25 times in those two years? I knew some other stuff and not saying there was anything nefarious, but assumed other things were going on. He is a medical student in Michigan with actual student loans (as some have speculated to be false from his previous Medium article on the chest find). To me, that past tense was jarring. Davis surveyed the area the following week and concluded that the spot was not set up to handle the increased foot traffic that revealing the location might bring. To me, you need evidence that he intended something to be a hint in order to consider it as such, and I was happy to leave legitimate hints on the table if they didnt meet that high burden of proof. Many speculate that Fenn is extending a courtesy to the finder for tax purposes, keeping the federal government in the darksince they likely manage Sign in to access your profile, save content and more. Would you answer the question the same way? Jack Stuef, 32, a medical student from Michigan, located a stash of gold nuggets, gemstones and pre-Columbian artifacts that had been hidden by the art dealer Forrest Fenn as part of a. perhaps you have a similar genetic makeup and therefore you were able to think the same as Forrest. He revealed his identity to Outside in December of that year, just before being added as a defendant to one. Had the blaze not been damaged, do you believe you wouldve found the spot on your first trip in 2018, or did you really need to know what blaze you were looking for in order to identify it (regardless of the condition of the blaze)? Thousands of people participated in the. Join Outside+ to get Outside magazine, access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. And it turns out, officials at Yellowstone really want to avoid that scenario. Q1 Are Forrest Fenns ashes at or are going to be at the treasure location? September 7, 2020 Fenns family announces that Fenn has died of natural causes. private emails between Stuef and Fenn that occurred immediately after the treasure was found. At that time, it had been going on for 7 years and I had not heard of it. The end of the treasure hunt may finally be drawing to a close. Does it tie the 2 lines together? After Forrest Fenns passing, though, Jack penned a piece on his blog, titled A Remembrance of Forrest Fenn, calling the New Mexican his friend and detailing the unprecedented legacy he left behind. There is always yet one adventure left to be had. Do you mean substituting synonyms for the words of the poem so that they would make sense? Two of them are larger than a hens egg.. Yes, all the other clues are recognizable out there at this point the same as when he hid it, but none of them were as susceptible to damage as the blaze was. Exact location could be revealed through lawsuit proceedings. Jack first joined The Thrill of The Chase and the hunt for Fenn's treasure in 2018. However, as he got into a few controversies within his first few years, he left the media industry to study medicine. What do you think? But nobody was looking there, because it wasnt very good. If youre already well-versed in the story of the Fenn treasure, then skip to the next page break. Thanks Guy. Yes, Jack Stuef proved he is the finder of Fenn's treasure with photographic evidence. Worse than that, he wouldnt say where it had been hidden. Did Stuef figure out all that precise language on his own that day? September 23, 2020 Medium publishes a blog entitled A Remembrance of Forrest Fenn from an anonymous author that simply goes by The Finder. His name is Jack Stuef. Given that your name and travel dates are now public, any concerns that someone might try to trace your movements? I put all this to tax attorney Larry Brant, who I consulted with. For years, searchers have theorized that the treasure was found in Yellowstone, which is why Stuef wouldnt share any specifics: found property in a national park is supposed to be turned in to the park supervisor. Yes. In 2020, Fenn simply announced that the treasure had been found yet gave no details about its location or its finder. These pictures also match the original picture posted by the "finder" in June of 2020. If something had happened to him and he never had the chance to answer questions about the treasure hunt, I would have had a harder time believing it was real, so I may have just decided there was too much uncertainty and never searched. Jack had remained anonymous, he said, not because he had anything to hide but because he feared the potential threats that came with his findings. However, Fenn, before his death a few months later in 2020, confirmed the treasure was found in Wyoming. Me personally, I was never a good treasure hunter. Cookie Notice And he always said that there was a kind of fail-safe inside. He needs Stuef to say that he solved the clues in the poem fair and square, and that the treasure was exactly where Fenn originally left it. Because I promised the finder I would not reveal who found it or where, I have remained mostly silent, Fenn writes. At the same time, it wouldnt surprise me if someone figured that out and hadnt told him. they look for three tangible signs of the treasure's former location . Thus, the only way to reach him is via his e-mail, which he answers either privately or on his blog as Jack Gets Mail. In a sense, by putting the chest in Yellowstone, Fenn booby-trapped his hiding spot. What I considered to be probable was certainly smaller than a football field, and it was found within those probable bounds. I understand if you dont want to answer these questions but I thought Id try asking. Any idea what they were used for? It was Yellowstone for me from day one. I guess he put something up to tease others that would have gotten close. They were not happy about this fake blaze, and their anger was expressed very similarly to the anger that Jack Stuef expressed about the fake blaze he encountered. "Begin it where warm waters halt / And take it in the canyon down / Not far, but too far to walk / Put in below the home of Brown," the poem began. Sooooo, is there an album or artist that you listened to that sticks out when you reminisce back on your WY adventures ? It was not until after Fenns death in September 2020 that Jack Stuef posted an anonymous blog post about the find. And without his many comments on simplicity and the straightforwardness of the poem, I think it would have been more difficult to understand the scope of the undertaking and his perspective on the poem, which I think are crucial to figuring out what it means. I spent a night at a hotel on my way to New Mexico and wiped dirt off everything with the hotel towels (not with any type of soap or cleaner, just occasionally wetting them a little bit). Stuef could be compelled to reveal the location in a sworn deposition in one of several lawsuits over the treasure hunt that began in 2010. #2. Absolutely, especially with long-time hunters. And did you go through or inventory the chest before meeting with Forrest. Whoever found the treasure would have to maneuver very carefully if they wanted to keep it. Thanks Dave. He has been writing about the outdoor industry, running, cycling, camping, and more for nearly a decade. I know you found the chest in WY, but does the chase begin outside of that state?