Remains of missing treasure hunter found, ex-wife claims he was victim of hoax
He was searching for a treasure that likely doesn't exist. At least that's what Linda Bilyeu believes. Her ex-husband went missing in New Mexico and later died, looking for a chest full of gold nuggets and coins.
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On Tuesday, Santa Fe Police confirmed that the human remains recovered along the Rio Grande were those of Forrest Fenn treasure hunter Randy Bilyeu. (Linda Bilyeu/Forrest Fenn/AP)
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As It Happens8:03Remains of missing treasure hunter found, ex-wife claims he was victim of hoax
Like so many others, Randy Bilyeu had gone out in search of elusive buried treasure in the Rocky Mountains. He was following a cryptic map and poem created by a man named Forrest Fenn. Fenn claims to have buried a chest full of gold nuggets, rubies and coins somewhere in the mountains. Bilyeu, from Colorado, became obsessed with finding it. But in early January, he went missing — somewhere along the Rio Grande.
On Tuesday, authorities confirmed that Bilyeu's remains have been found. His ex-wife, Linda Bilyeu, had been part of the search team and now she's calling on Fenn to come clean about his supposed treasure chest.
Linda Bilyeu was part of the search team for her ex-husband and is now calling on Forrest Fenn to come clean about his supposed treasure chest. (Linda Bilyeu) "I don't think that there's a chest or that it's hidden — that it ever existed," Bilyeu tells As It Happens guest host Helen Mann.
Bilyeu says she feels some sense of relief now that her ex-husband's remains have been discovered and will finally be coming home. But she still questions Fenn's motives and is determined to find out how her husband died.
"After he set out on his journey — I don't know," Bilyeu explains. "We might never know what happened when he pushed off on the raft down the Rio."
The missing persons poster for Randy Bilyeu. (Linda Bilyeu) Bilyeu says it was in her ex-husband's nature to seek adventure, but that Fenn's treasure hunt took advantage of his blind "thrill of the chase" ambition. Fenn has called the death "regrettable" and "terrible" but maintains that he shouldn't be held responsible for what happened.
"I don't hold [Fenn] responsible for Randy deciding to go on this adventure because Randy is an adult, but I do feel that Randy's mind was manipulated in some way," Bilyeu says.
Bilyeu says that initially Fenn was actively involved in the search for her ex-husband, but says as soon as she started her own rescue effort the communication between them deteriorated. She recalls one exchange where she asked him to reveal the location of the treasure to help pinpoint her ex-husband's whereabouts.
"He said he couldn't do that because he is the only one who knows," Bilyeu recalls. "And since he is the only one who knows, if I know, then he would have to shoot me and kill me."
Forrest Fenn in his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Jeri Clausing/AP) Bilyeu hopes that her ex-husband's story will stand as a warning sign to other "Fenners" who are still searching for the rumoured treasure and will deter anyone else thinking of taking up the hunt.
"I'm righting a wrong — I feel a wrong has been done," Bilyeu says. "If I could help others, I will do it. I will give everything in me to do it."
