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Comment by saycheese | Hacker News Reader

Worth noting people have died looking for it, which makes me believe the claim is likely real, especially given Fenn has charted private helicopters to help search for those lost and known to be searching for the treasure:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenn_treasure

Fenn hasn't been out in the Rocky Mountains, north of Santa Fe, to check on the chest since he hid it, but he knows it's still there.

My guess is that the prize is not inside, but with Fenn; which explains why he checks to see if someone has found it and requests they provide proof of what is inside.

Fenn has more clues posted here: http://www.oldsantafetradingco.com/the-thrill-resource-page

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That is not a plausible theory. Sure, the treasure might be elsewhere, but I wouldn't keep the prize in my own possesion if I were over 70 years old. What if someone finds the chest after his death.

I would rather believe it contains a note requesting that Fenn should be contacted by the lucky one.

Assure you that there are ways to deal with Fenn dieing and still require the party finding it to make contact with someone to claim the prize; in fact, Fenn planned this when he thought he would die from cancer.

From Wikipedia: "He filled the chest with "treasure" containing gold nuggets, rare coins, jewelry and gemstones, along with a jar holding his autobiography. He intended to hide it and end his life nearby, with the treasure as a legacy.[2] However, he survived his illness and waited until he was 79 or 80 to hide the treasure."

These are all bearer instruments. You may not know if it's found. 79-80 is 2009-2010. If he had a cellphone, there's a trail for some enterprising telcom worker or NSA analyst to follow (base station->sector->signal strength if not outright location). Presumably he drove there, maybe some ALPR database to mine.

Key to a safe deposit box and an address of the bank is more than enough to fulfill that requirement. At my bank, they come with two keys. Put one in the box and keep the other, and check the safe deposit box periodically.

That's not an option nowadays as far as I know.

I don't have the time to dig this up, but banking law forbids unknown parties to access safe deposit box in major banks. Sure you can give the second key to anyone you want but when they showed up at the bank, they will have to show their ID that matches name on the list of people you gave permission to access the box (at least that's how it is at Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo - I don't have boxes at other banks). This is part of KYC (know your customer) routine for banking institutions.

All he needed to do is leave a will-type of letter in this chest and directs you to bring this letter to his lawyer and that will do it.

You're right, I actually asked a banker after I wrote that and she said you'd need to show your ID that matches the name on the account. Sorry, too many bank heist movies I guess.

At my credit union they've moved to using thumbprints on a reader for regular visitors so the staff doesn't have to go through checking signatures, etc.

I'm executor for my aunt. She has a safe deposit box at a bank to which I have her key but I'm not on the list of people allowed access. They would have allowed me to open the box and remove a copy of the will if that was the only place it existed (that was also the situation with my dad) but otherwise I would not be allowed access.

Interestingly the agreements I've signed specifically disclaim any responsibility for gold, silver, cash and similar items.

Or a bitcoin private key. Fenn can monitor whether the money's been moved out of the account to know if the treasure's been found.

> Worth noting people have died looking for it, which makes me believe the claim is likely real,

At least one person died looking for the Fargo treasure, and that was made up.

Thanks, though I have no idea what the "Fargo treasure" is, so I'm not able to comment on it.

Do you have links to it, proof it's fake, the related death, etc.?

(Attempted to Google "Fargo treasure" but it appeared there were a number of different Fargo treasures.)

EDIT: Link http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/kumiko-the-treasure-hunter/t...

Yes, I would hope it's obvious that a fictional treasure is not real. Difference between your example and mine is the source is claiming it's real, aware people are dying, and spending money to help look for missing people.

Fargo the movie. Which in my opinion should not have said "this is a true story" in the movie or TV series. It's sort of "cheating" and uncool when credits in a movie state something as fact - which they know people will read as fact, but is actually made up.

Fargo is based on a true story: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_56de2c53e4b0ffe6f8ea78c4

Uh, no, it's not. Did you read the link you posted? Two minor details from two separate cases were (allegedly) kind of related. Everything else was made up.

"Based on a true story" is not the same thing as a documentary; it's assumed that aparts of the story are not real; how much is made up is up to the writer, not the reader.

Not sure what you point is. Fargo says "This is a true story".

It adds that apart from the name changes "the rest has been told exactly as it occurred."

A blatant lie, not at all in the manner of "based on a true story".

Fargo's credits state:

"The persons and events portrayed in this production are fictitious."

Every single modern movie has that lawyer-require statement just in case they get sued.

No, real (by intent and marketing, not necessarily truthfulness) documentaries (which are modern movies) do not.

Movies that are actually intended as works of fiction (even if inspired by real events, and even if—well, given the purpose, especially if—including some characters retaining the names of those in the real events doing some of the things they actually did) have it.

Still not sure what your point is. You seem stuck.

Nobody reads the tiny print in end credits. Viewers were told in opening credits that every detail except the names was true.

Someone went looking for the buried money and got themselves killed as a direct result of the statement in the opening credits.

"Based on a true story" is one of those film-marketing buzzphrases that means almost nothing. If the initial inspiration for the story is a true story, even if it bears little resemblance to the final product, it is "based on a true story". See also: Subway's "made with 100% chicken"

Many horror movies do the same thing nowadays, probably because it makes it more engaging for the audience?

It's especially funny when the story involves poltergeists or other paranormal elements. At least Fargo could plausibly have actually happened.

To be fair I'm not sure I've ever actually seen a movie/series state the literal "this is a true story", it's usually more along the lines of "based on a true story" to excuse their creative liberties.

I suspect he's referring to the scene in the movie Fargo where a character buries some cash in the snow. I haven't seen the movie in a while, and couldn't find a clip of where the money came into the character's possession.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/kumiko-the-treasure-hunter/t...

Assuming you mean the Japanese woman, her death was ruled a suicide:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Takako_Konishi

The urban legend that she died looking for the treasure however, was turned into a movie:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumiko,_the_Treasure_Hunter

The real story is quite tragic. That people misinterpreted it as an accidental death from a hilarious misunderstanding just adds to the sadness of the whole thing.

I heard a great radio story that went into detail a while back, but I can't find it. I think maybe it was Snap Judgement?

Good point.

From reading the article I immediately thought that maybe Randy Bilyeu did find it and decided to disappear.

Bilyeu is dead: https://www.google.com/search?q=Bilyeu+dead

Thanks. You'd think they'd would have checked and mentioned it (the article is much more recent, 2017/03/17)!

my guess is it's a scam, cause his story doesn't add up.

What does not add up?

Some people can't comprehend that a person would do something just for fun/interesting rather being selfish/greedy/personally optimal.

If he did drive there, the license plate would be interesting. He probably picked up supplies or even bought food along the way. When you are about to go deeper into the woods, and that LAST stop is just sitting there, you usually grab a few things. EVERY convenience store I know has a few cameras. Also gps units use satellites? If he did use one would there be a log of this?

Just sayin'

What's a "satellite lookup for gps request"?

My ex-wife. She always knows where I'm thinking of going.

GPS units are receive-only. The tech behind GPS is actually really cool!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System#Fund...

Yep. I've had the "We can only receive" conversation with my SO on a few car trips through the countryside.

"What? You have GPS. Why can't you search Google Maps on your phone?"

Explaining the difference between cell towers and satellites in orbit is hard to do when the asker has no idea how cell phone infrastructure works. Which is pretty much everyone.

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