The Fenn Treasure | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] I think Forest wanted to become a legend and I actually think he succeeded. He
was described as a modern-day Indiana Jones. Forest came up with the idea to hide a
bronze chest filled with gold somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. I bought this beautiful little treasure
chest and I started filling it up with wonderful things. There's 265 gold coins, hundreds and hundreds of gold
nuggets. He wrote a 24line poem guiding people to the location of the treasure. Yeah, that's exactly it. He created
effectively a treasure map in the form of that poem. I'm going to read the poem.
So, here it goes. As I have gone alone in there and with my treasures bold, I can keep my secret wear and hint of
riches new and old. There'll be no paddle up your creek, just heavy loads and water high.
So hear me all and listen good. Your effort will be worth the cold. If you've been brave and in the wood, I give you
title to the gold. And I read that poem and oh god, it was like a hook. No place for the meek. The bug got in me
and I couldn't let it go. I tried to climb up into that cave there. I couldn't sleep. I thought it was the
coolest thing I'd ever heard. How much was that treasure worth? I I think that 1 million is a pretty good
mark to use. [Music] I made at least 85 trips. I didn't find the treasure yet. We had so much fun. It was crazy.
Since there's a mountain line in the area, we don't want to take any chances. So, we're bringing our gun.
I have spent over 2,000 hours. This is where I ran into my rattlesnake searching for forest fence treasure.
Well, I made it hard deliberately. If it was easy, anyone could do it. For at least five people, the search for
Fen's treasure was the last thing they ever did. Yes. Unfortunately, you know, this
treasure hunt did claim at least five lives. Randy Billu was the first. Paris Wallace
also died in the Rio Grand River. Eric Ashby died in the Arkansas River. There was a gentleman who was hiking in
Yellowstone and ended up falling off of a cliff. Two men who went out with snowmobiles.
I've got him in sight still. One of them froze to death and the other one was hospitalized.
Forest Finn was a bad person. He could have stopped this madness before it became what it became.
It wasn't worth it. How does Forest Fen respond to that? By to some degree digging in his heels.
He didn't like the idea that anyone would tell him to bring his hunt to an end because of a few deaths.
He said that if somebody was murdered because of the hunt, that would probably be too much.
[Music] [Music] [Music] High at top a ridge near Dinosaur National Monument, 53-year-old Mike
Sexon froze to death. This is the last known photo of him taken in March 2020 as he hiked in that remote area. Days
later, Mike's body was airlifted off the mountaintop. Hey, he's coming up. All right, he's about halfway.
Mike became the fifth person to die while searching for Forest F's hidden treasure.
Mike was full of life. Mike was an adventurer and always smiling, always laughing, a big deep chuckle.
Friend Liz Keyi struggles to reconcile Mike's love of adventure with his terrible loss.
I'm glad that he took this adventure. I am very sad that he's gone. And I miss Mike every day. I miss his hugs when I'm
stressed. I miss his support. I miss his voice, his laughter. Beth Van Oz today is forced to cope
without her longtime boyfriend. Mike had been her rock after she suffered a brain
injury. He was more than just my partner. He was in some ways my caretaker. After Mike's
death, Liz felt compelled to send Forest Fen an anguished email. How many people have to die
before your game is done? I had received an email back and and he just gave his condolences to Beth.
Forest Fen was a very complicated person. Dan Barbaresi explores Fen's complexities in his new book, Chasing
the Thrill, Obsession, Death, and Glory in America's Most Extraordinary Treasure
Hunt. He believed in stories that were bigger than just your run-of-the-mill standard
tale. And he dreamed big. He believed in big things. And Fen had lived a big life, beginning
with his days in the Air Force when he was shot down twice in Vietnam and later as the owner of a well-known
southwestern art gallery. How did a retired fighter pilot reinvent himself in Santa Fe, New Mexico with not just an
art gallery, but one of the most famous art galleries in America? I think he would tell you it's about the show you
can put on. And there's no question that Fen put on a good show. His gallery attracted
celebrities like Jacqueline Kennedy Onasses, Steve Martin, and Ralph Lauren. [Music]
But there were recurring whispers that Fen may have built his impressive collection by plundering ancient Native
American PBLO. There were certainly some questions about how he came in possession of some
of those artifacts over time. In 2009, long after Fen had sold his gallery, his home was raided by federal agents from
the Bureau of Land Management. And it ultimately turned out that Fen was not charged with anything in that
case. The next year, Fen self-published his memoir, The Thrill of the Chase. To get families into the great outdoors,
Fen put a little incentive inside his memoir, that distinctive 24line poem. He claimed it contained clues that would
lead one clever person to the 10 by 10 in chest of gold he'd hidden somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.
If you can follow the clues in the poem to the treasure chest, you're going to be amazed at what you find.
Then launched a modern-day treasure hunt, but it was slowgoing at first. It felt like a small little treasure hunt
for a few people who knew about it. When did that change and why? It got noticed by the larger media.
There were a few big pieces. One in Hemispheres magazine, one in Newsweek. I think the name of that reporter was
the same as my name. Whatever it was was a very hard name to pronounce, but I'm pretty sure it was
Tony. That much I've got. It's pronounced DOP, by the way. It really started to raise the profile
of it in a significant way. It wasn't long before tens of thousands of people were on the hunt. In 2015,
months before any of the searchers died, Ben spoke to CBS News about the likelihood of anyone finding his
treasure. It isn't impossible, but you're not going to stumble over it. You have to
deliberately go to it. Fen said the spot he chose was so beautiful he could imagine it as his
final resting place. An original version of the poem actually talked about his bones being there next to the treasure
chest itself. Fen dropped that idea. The searchers had their own reasons for going on the hunt
and it became clear that many were seeking more than a box of gold. I think a lot of people really wanted to
be part of something bigger than themselves. Maybe there was something missing in their lives and for others it
was that they felt that people hadn't believed in them to the extent that they should have.
Searchers shared their passion and began to compare so-called solves, their interpretation of the clues in the poem.
It was all online until some got the idea to meet in real life. And so of that was born Fenbury. Exactly what it
sounds like. It's a Forest Fen Jamberee. Each summer, Fen's fans flocked to Santa
Fe where Forest Fen was her star attraction. I think I described it as as meeting a
beetle. You know, it was that kind of thing. Everybody just lined up literally to get their their brief moment with
Forest Fen. People use the word eccentric, but I don't think that's the right word for
him. He was just his own man. Sasha Dent was living in Albuquerque when she took up the chase.
I probably searched for Forest Fence treasure about 300 times. She became an insider.
Forest was such a a major part of my life. And Sasha saw firsthand the good that
came from Fen's game. There was account after account of families who were brought together because of Forest Fence
treasure hunt. There were relationships built on the treasure hunt and marriages
and that includes her own marriage. Brea out. [Music] Another of Fen's favorites was Katya
Luc, a singer songwriter who knew Fan in the9s before he wrote his memoir. When she later came across Fven's book,
well, gold fever struck that very night. I couldn't sleep all night long. I'm either Google Earth, Googling, reading
the book again, underlining, highlighting. She estimates she spent $75,000 over 7 years of searching. It was a
great time, she says, even during some dangerous moments. I had a very close encounter while I was searching for the
treasure with a cougar and I just froze. But then I lifted up my hoodie really tall and made myself
bigger. I went marching really strong and did like a pseudo chant really loud. Hey.
[Music] Katya came away unscathed, but others were not so lucky. This is not some disnified hunt where at
the end of it everything turns out okay. The reality is if you don't take this thing seriously, it will get you.
Look just to the right of that tree off in the distance. You see it? That's where we're going.
For 5 years, no one could find the location of Ben's treasure. But the searchers had become a tight community.
If it's snow covered, it's pointless. I think we were like a support group for each
other. You're among people who get that it's not just about the money. He says it cannot be stumbled upon. It's
about being the one who cracked the code. I have looked and I have looked and I have looked.
And the other people, they get it. I know at least probably 30 places where it's not.
You would talk about your solve, as they called it, but you never gave the exact
location. I told you we're not going to be in Yellowstone. The distances didn't work
out really well for me. Toby Ununice hosted a popular YouTube show about the hunt.
Everybody believed they were going to find their treasure. There was no acceptance of the idea that someone else
would find the treasure. [Music] And divorced grandfather Randy Bill was convinced he had as good a chance as
anyone. I met Randy a couple times at some of the Fen gatherings. Randy was always my protector. Randy
grew up on Long Island, New York, and his sister Kathy Leebold remembers he loves sports and animals. Randy learned
of Fen's treasure in 2013 and started searching the next year. I think he was excited about the
adventure of the hunt and um he thought if he found the treasure that he would use the money to help his family.
And if you knew Randy, you knew Leo, his long-haired Jack Russell. Leo was his best buddy and he took him everywhere.
Randy and Leo moved to Colorado to be closer to the search area. And at the beginning, Kathy says he was good about
letting his family know when he was going out on the trail, but later that changed.
I think he thought he was getting really, really close to it and um he just wanted to, you know, excite us all
with the news that he had found it. On January 5th, 2016, Randy and Leo headed out to the Rio Grand northwest of Santa
Fe with a small raft. Temperatures hovered around freezing. He was gone for 10 days before he was
reported missing. I had a sinking feeling that something was really very wrong. Flight nurse Aaron Johnson was part of a
medical helicopter crew sent out to look for Randy. On the initial search, they found
nothing and headed back up river. And that's actually when we found his raft. That's a raft. It's uh blue.
They landed on a sandy bank of the river and were in for a surprise. There was a small dog that was there and
barking at us. He had a sweater on which was pretty dirty, but I'm quite certain
that that sweater saved his life. There were three of us on the ground the whole
time. Aside from the raft and his dog, we could find really nothing else. No backpack, nothing.
Leo seemed frightened, but Aaron eventually coaxed him to eat a cliff bar the pilot had on board. And at the point
where we had to leave, I had a big thick jacket and I just threw it over him and
scooped him up and brought him on the helicopter. Kathy saw the heartbreaking news on TV.
Only Leo had been rescued. It was uh probably one of the worst days of my life. The treasure hunting community got word
of this and many of these people wanted to help. Determined to find Ry's body, drone
pilots shot hours of footage that was posted online so the treasure hunt community could go through it frame by
frame looking for signs of Randy. Other searchers put boots on the ground. It was rugged. I mean, it was harder
than any treasure searching any of us had done. It was rough. We searched very very hard every day for over a month.
Forest Fen rode in a helicopter to look for Randy. Fen also met with Kathy when she came to
Santa Fe. Fen was sympathetic but told her he wasn't willing to call off the treasure hunt.
I think a lot of people could argue that his priorities are perhaps not what they
should be. That instead of the people or the human cost, he cared a lot more potentially about his treasure hunt. And
the treasure hunt was everything to fend. Even though it put his family at risk.
Forest was harassed over the years. His family was harassed. There's a man who's
done prison for stalking Forest's granddaughter. Get on your knees. Get on your knees.
And this man, Robert Miller, was arrested for burglary in 2018 at Fen's Santa Fe home.
So, what the hell is going on? I thought the poem directed me into here. I thought it said
poem. Yeah. The the treasure map, the treasure hunt, you know. So, you came on the property because of
Are you serious? Yeah. What did his family think about all this? Uh, I think his family had a hard time
with it. Honestly, even with all of that, Forest saw how much good his treasure hunt did for how
many people, and he know that the good far outweighed the bad. The search for the treasure continued,
as did the search for Randy. 6 months after he went missing, his body was found on the riverbank.
Obviously, we were devastated that he wasn't alive. He was a great father, grandfather, and
uncle to my son. With Randy gone, Leo was adopted by none other than Aaron Johnson.
Leo, the nurse who rescued him. Good boy. In the five years with his new family, the ultimate rescue dog has even
learned some new tricks. Okay, turn around. Kathy is happy he's found a new home.
Good boy. But she thinks about her brother every day. I wished he'd been more careful. I
wished he hadn't gone out that day, but you know, he was enjoying what he was doing.
Randy was not the last to die searching for Fen's gold. The next year, the hunt claimed three
more lives. He had become obsessed by Ven's treasure, and that was the only thing that
mattered to him. In June 2017, a year and a half after Randy Billu died, three more men lost
their lives in a matter of weeks. Jeff Murphy was searching in Yellowstone National Park.
Very tragically just misststepped and ended up falling off of a cliff and passing away.
Around the same time, writer Dan Barbaresi went on his first search with his treasure hunting partner Jay Rener.
What was it like going from 4 months of research on a computer to being out there in the wilderness?
The first thing that stood out to me, how much bigger a point on a map is in real life. You know, you look on a map,
oh, this isn't that big. I can cross this area with just my finger alone. Once you're actually out in the wild,
you see how big those distances are and how much land there actually is out there pretty quickly. It really hits you
in the face pretty fast. Reality wasn't the only thing hitting Dan and Jay in the face.
We're out there thinking that we're, you know, adventurers, explorers, and all of
a sudden it starts hailing. And we very quickly realized that we had absolutely no idea what we were doing. Days later,
in that same exact area, a Colorado pastor named Paris Wallace set off to search the Rio Grand near the Tal
Junction Bridge. As you move through life, there are those points where you have to seek God to find out what he
wants you to do. And he crossed the river by himself, and it was high waters. Then
Paris's body was recovered 4 days later a few miles down river. His death spurred the New Mexico State Police
Chief to ask Fen to call off the hunt. Fen refused. There was a huge amount of anger at Fen
over this. I mean, you can understand why. I mean, this is a treasure hunt. It doesn't need to exist. And yet, he
wouldn't stop it even after multiple people had died. That's a pretty hard stance to take.
Fen justified continuing the hunt by pointing out that any outdoor activity came with risks.
In the summertime, we jump in a swimming pool, but if somebody drowns in the swimming pool, should should we drain
the pool or should we teach people to swim? That's the way I feel about it. And the treasure community rallied
around Fen in support of the hunt. Here I go. 99.9% of people who go out looking for
his treasure make it home safely with tons of memories and new experiences to treasure.
And Fan did keep warning searchers to be safe. Be more careful. Be more mindful.
He constantly reminded everyone to not go anywhere a 79 or 80-year-old man couldn't go.
Many searchers, Dan says, set off on the treasure trail with great excitement, but sometimes were unprepared for how
wild the wilderness can be. Searchers like Eric Ashby understood the risks and were willing to take them.
Fear was not part of his game. He didn't know how to be afraid. Paul Ashby raised his son, Eric, as a
single father in the mountains of Tennessee. Eric grew up playing sports, riding motorcycles, and was taken by the
quest at the center of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Eric was a great kid. Everybody who knew
him loved him. In 2016, Eric moved to Colorado. He told his dad he was headed west to take part
in his own quest. Fen's Thrill of the Chase. He became obsessed. Dad, I can do this.
Was he motivated by the money the treasure represented or by the recognition solving it?
Oh, sincerely the recognition. The money to him was totally irrelevant. Eric told his father he was going out to
search the Arkansas River outside Canyon City, Colorado. More than a week later,
Paul got a phone call from a woman who said her name was Becca. She told me on the phone, "Mr. Ashby,
your son is drowned." And she says, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ashby, your son is dead." And
she hung up. Becca turned out to be Rebecca Ny, who had worked with Eric. She and three men
were with Eric at the river, and they had drawn up this contract outlining exactly how they'd split the treasure.
She later told police what happened that day. He said he had swam the river that
we were about to cross 10 times before. And so, you know, we we figured though we should be fine.
Becca said they' bought a twoperson raft, but Eric got in alone and had no life preserver.
So, he just um jumped out. It looked like he had made it to the rock, but then we didn't see him anymore. And that
was right where the rapids, you know, would have taken him. Becca told police two of the men went down river to look
for Eric where they saw a photographer who told them he called 911. The photographer also captured this photo of
Eric's empty raft. Hearing someone had called police, Becca and the others went back to their car
and went home. A decision Becca tried to explain. I want to know why why no one stayed
there to tell us this information because again now I'm back. easily in hindsight to see what we should have
done. But in the moment, we had never been involved with any of our life back. Eric stepped in a situation that was
impossible. Nobody could have done it. The thing that makes it worse is that nobody
stopped him and that it was just a case of oh well, Eric was worth so much more to me
than oh well. After Eric's body was recovered, Paul traveled to the river to see where his
son had died. I took the excursion train that comes down the gorge and one of the
company managers was on the train with me and he went into the bar the lounge car and come back with a
beer. He says this is for you and your son and we shared our last beer right there.
Paul says he never heard from Forest Fen. If you had been able to reach Forest Finn, what would you say to him?
Say, "Mr. Finn, is this something one day you're going to have to go to whoever our maker is and say, "Yes,
these people were drowning or dying, falling off cliffs, whatever." And I could have stopped it, and I chose not
to. I was honestly surprised that it didn't end in that summer of 2017. But the hunt did not end. And in March
2020, a fifth man died. About 2 o'clock in the morning, I looked up, the stars were out. I looked over,
you know, to my left, and there was Mike. It was like, "Oh, I I I remember telling myself, "Oh, no, Mike."
What do you think of Forest Fen's decision to continue the treasure hunt? Learn more about the search for the
treasure at 48 hours.com. [Music] Mike was the kind of guy that walked into a room smiling and made everybody
feel better just by coming around. Beth Van O says her longtime boyfriend Mike Sexon knew about Randy, Jeff,
Paris, and Eric, the others who died while searching for Fen's treasure. I think Mike knew of the dangers. He
just maybe ignored a little bit of it or thought he could get around it. It had been nearly 3 years since any
searchers had died. I think people thought that maybe they had gotten past that point where people
aren't going to die anymore looking for this. Mike was convinced he knew where the
treasure was along the Colorado Utah border in Dinosaur National Monument. He made nearly a dozen trips there, but he
needed someone with a four-wheel drive truck to help. That's how his poker buddy, Steven Enloow, got involved with
the hunt. I was very excited to be with Mike on these trips. I just enjoyed traveling
with him. This is the first time Steven has spoken publicly about their ordeal that began
in late February 2020. The men rented snowmobiles in Denver and set off for Mike's spot. The snowmobiles proved to
be too heavy for the depth of snow that we had. Mike and Steven got stuck, but managed
to call 911. Is anybody injured? No. No, we're not injured. Just stuck. Looks like I've got a pretty good
location on you. I'm going to get you some help headed your way. Okay. They were rescued, but the close call
didn't deter the pair from going back out just a few weeks later on March 17th, 2020. Days into the COVID
pandemic, Mike was adamant that he wanted to make another trip before the quarantine
started. Mike and Steven drove to Salt Lake City where they rented snowmobiles they
thought would be better on the terrain. On the second day in the wilderness, they left their truck 5 miles from the
main road and headed off for a day trip on the snowmobiles. We left a lot of our
provisions back of the truck thinking we're just going to be gone three or four hours. We take off the snowmobiles
and we're on the south side of the mountain this time and we ran out of snow. It became dry.
They left even more supplies on the snowmobiles and set off on foot with a sled to carry home the treasure, which
Mike believed was close. We had some some candy bars, a couple of energy bars, and uh maybe a gallon and a half
of water between the two of us. It didn't look that far away, but it proved to be ridge over ridge over ridge. That
took a lot longer than I thought it was going to take. By 6:00 on Wednesday, I was kind of
nervous. I hadn't heard from him. When the men hadn't returned the snowmobiles Wednesday night, the rental
company called the police who called Beth and Steven's wife. Not knowing was just the worst. Just the most awful
thing. Mike tried to hike to higher ground to get a cell signal, but hours later
returned unsuccessful. At that point, both men were so exhausted, all they could do was lay
where they were. The next day, it began to snow. They had no more water. I remember my hands and knees eating the
snow crystals and blood was dripping from my mouth, staining the snow. I cried for help. I asked God. I asked
Jesus. Just anyone call 911. We need help. Desperate for hydration, Steven began
drinking his own urine and felt warmth spread throughout his body. And I I could just feel that was a moment that
I'm going to live. And I told Mike he's got to quit eating the snow when he was shivering and told him what he needed to
do. And he said he'd rather die. On Friday, we could hear helicopters on the other side of the mountain side and
we knew they were out searching for us. And so that gave us hope, but never saw the helicopter. That night, I woke up
about two o'clock in the morning and Mike was about six feet away from me. He was on his hands and knees with his
arms cuped around his head, his head flat on the ground. And he had no shirt on. And so I knew he had died. And I
knew why. Hypothermia. [Music] People suffering from extreme cold can feel hot in the moments just before they
die. I I remember telling myself, "Oh no, Mike." Later that Saturday, Steven heard the
helicopters again, louder this time, and saw them down in the canyon below. With
all the strength he could muster, he grabbed the orange sled and he waved it toward the helicopter. And then just
like in the movies, the helicopter rose up above the cliff and I knew I was saved and I passed out. Next thing I
knew, two guys were picking me up, asking me if I could walk. I couldn't even stand. And I I just remember
whispering, "Goodbye, Mike." Mike was later taken off the mountain in a body bag. Beth got the devastating
news that afternoon. I mean, you can say I love you, but until somebody's really gone and you
can't say it anymore, you just don't realize you have more than that to say. A year later, Beth and Mike's friend Liz
Key find solace in that last photo. His grandmile, the look in his eye of yes, this is where I want to be. I am very
sad that he's gone, but I'm glad that he he did what he loved to do. Mike was the fifth person to die seeking
Fen's treasure. He was also the last because only 3 months later, Forest Fen made a stunning announcement.
The message was very short and simple. It said, "The treasure has been found. [Applause]
Early last summer, just as thousands of treasure hunters were about to begin looking yet again for Forest Fen's chest
of gold, they got a piece of news that left them reeling. My heart stopped. Honestly, I was like,
"Oh my god." Uh, I cannot believe this has actually happened. Did somebody really find it or you know and if so
who? The news broke on June 6th, 2020 when Fen made the stunning announcement in a
brief post he sent to a blog used by the searcher community. Fen wrote, "The treasure has been found
and had not moved from the spot where I hid it more than 10 years ago. I do not know the person who found it, but the
poem in my book led him to the precise spot. Overnight, the gold rush that had sustained the searchers was over
and many were left feeling a bit cheated. We didn't have a name. We didn't have where it had been found. We
didn't have any other any other information other than it had been found where he had left it. And is it really
really really true that they found it? I want to see, you know. So the guy did send pictures.
For the first time, searchers could see Forest pouring over the contents of his famous treasure chest.
It looked pretty authentic to me. You know, very authentic. But like everyone else, Katya yearned to
know the Finder's solve. How had he deciphered those clues in the poem? The finder wouldn't say, but a month later,
Fen revealed the treasure had been found in Wyoming. Then two months later, on September 7th,
2020, Forest Fen died at his home where he had just turned 90 years old. I find myself thinking of Forest often
and um I miss our conversations very much. The Finder may have remained anonymous
forever, except for a lawsuit that required the Fen family to reveal his name. The Finder knew it was only a
matter of time. So, he came out to Dan Barbaresi, who wrote an article for Outside magazine. Who did find the
treasure? A man named Jack Stef found the treasure. and he was uh you know a medical student who had gotten obsessed
with this chase uh around 2018. He you know was very very committed to his sol. Hey guys, this is Jack
in this online message to other searchers. Our challenge is to try not to make guesses.
Jack Steuf had shared his approach to cracking fence poem. It is simple and clear and
straightforward. You need simplicity in yourself. Dan says Jack had been searching for at
least two years. And then one day in a Wyoming forest, Jack says he uncovered the chest. It had
almost been covered by leaves and debris, but Jack said the lid was still visible.
He became very paranoid that somebody was going to stumble upon him in that moment. Jack says he hightailed it to
Santa Fe where these photos were taken. They seemed to back up Jack's story, but
fan watcher Toby Eunis was skeptical. Here is my theory. The hunt was moving forward. Forest was aging.
The family, Forest's family, was frustrated with the state of the search. Their houses had been broken into.
Their children had been threatened with kidnapping. They were never lovers of the Forest Fen treasure hunt.
Toby has no evidence, but believes that Fen, knowing he had only months to live,
looked around for someone who was close to finding the treasure. Toby believes Fen reached out to Jack. I imagine this
is how it went. I want you to know that I'm dying. I want you to know that I don't want to leave this treasure hunt
to my family and I'm going to ask you for a favor. Forest had a a saying that he used often. There's an old saying,
two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead. Jack refused our request for an
interview, but denied he had any help from Fen. as he wrote online, "I am not and was never employed by Forest, nor
did he pick me in any way to retrieve the treasure. I was a stranger to him and found the treasure as he designed it
to be found." I do not believe it is part of a conspiracy engineered by Fen to give
Jack the treasure or anything else of that sort. Dan is in a unique position because he's
the only journalist who has interviewed Jack. Jack even allowed Dan to examine the treasure. These photos have rarely
been seen. You were able to actually hold the treasure, to touch it, to see it in
person. Yes. You know, I have seen and touched and felt and gone through the chest. It
was kind of an incredible moment, honestly. Jack told Dan he will not reveal the exact spot where he found the
chest because he fears it would become a tourist attraction that would ruin the area's serenity and
natural beauty. I think we will never find out truly where it was found. And there could be another reason. Fen's
original intent to lay down and die at the very spot where he hid his treasure. I don't want to be buried.
If I had my way, I'd lay down under a tree and go and uh just like a big old buffalo lays down
and dies. Go back to nature. Become become part of the earth again. Jack says he offered to put Fen's ashes
in that special spot, but will not say if the family accepted his offer. Dan says he doesn't know what Jack intends
to do with the treasure, whether he will sell it peace meal or as one, or perhaps
lease it for display. What is in the end the legacy of Forest Fen? I think the legacy of Forest Fen is extremely
complicated. I think that there were a lot of good things that happened because of it. There were also some really bad
things that happened because of it. But if you're Paul Ashby, who lost his only son, Eric, to the hunt, one of the
five men to die chasing the thrill, Fen's legacy is not complicated at all. He was reckless. He was willing to
ignore the fact that people were dying because all these other people worshiped him.
A lot of people still do look up to Forest Fen. And maybe that's not so surprising.
When you feel a dream, you know, live your dream out, follow your heart. And okay, so I didn't find the treasure, but
I found many treasures. This in itself is the biggest treasure of all that I found. So many magical, wonderful things
I could never replace um without that treasure hunt. I'm so grateful for Forest. Thank you. Thank you, Forest.
[Music] CBS next Saturday. 48 Hours brings you backtoback episodes all summer long.
This week, killer contestants. He is the serial killer that we always suspected him to be.
You just want to wake up and have it not be real. Up 48 hours prime time double feature next Saturday 98 central on CBS
and streaming on Paramount Plus.

Millionaire Forrest Fenn hid a gold-filled chest somewhere in the Rockies and wrote a poem with cryptic clues. Tens of thousands searched for it and five people died trying. A story of obsession. "CBS Mornings" co-host Tony Dokoupil reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

Brief Summary

Forest Fen's treasure hunt led to five deaths, raising questions about his legacy and the risks of adventure.

Key points

The Treasure Hunt Begins. Forest Finn hides a bronze chest filled with gold in the Rocky Mountains, sparking a treasure hunt.
Tragic Consequences. The treasure hunt leads to multiple deaths, raising questions about its risks.
A Community Forms. Searchers bond over their quest, creating a tight-knit community despite the dangers.
The Cost of Adventure. Randy Billu goes missing during the hunt, leading to a desperate search.
The Hunt Continues. Despite deaths, Forest Fen refuses to call off the treasure hunt, igniting controversy.
Tragic Decisions. Becca reflects on the moment Eric jumped into danger, leading to tragedy.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It wasn't worth it.

3:05WatchMay 31, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.