Whimsical treasure hunt turns into a grim search-and-rescue…
But was his dog okay?
No matter what Bilyeu’s fate, Fenn has vowed to keep the search going: “There have been too many people looking. It would not be fair to them if we shut the thing down.”
Yeah, yeah, all the treasure-seekers are adults who can make their own choices, but to keep them all dancing for your amusement after you’ve got a body count is chilling.
Somehow this statement bothers me more from an 85-year-old than it would from a 40-year-old. I don’t know if it’s because I feel he should know better at that age, or because I’m expecting him to have developed some empathy that younger people sometimes lack. Maybe it’s because he’d suffer so little from any allegation that he was “admitting guilt” by calling it off, relative to what a younger person might, and yet he’s still more excited by the prospect of people going on his wild goose chase.
Right? Little white dogs don’t last long in the bush!
Keep it running. The interest of the living, who already invested a lot of effort into the hunt, is more important than the interest of the dead who cannot care any less anymore.
As long as everybody who wants to can drop out, it’s okay with me. They can decide to take the risks or not.
The best way to conduct this treasure hunt would be to raid the man’s home, take him and any other there captive and have them lead you to the gold.
That’s probably against the rules, but surprising if no one has tried it yet.
Maybe that’s what Randy Bilyeu tried?
Yeah, this bothered me, too. I finally found a news report that actually mentioned if the dog was alive, and apparently it was, albeit hungry.
Irresponsible dick head. I don’t care if you want to kill yourself in the winter mountains but don’t kill your pets too!
The way I hear it, it was the dog’s idea to press on. The old gezzer was all for turning back.
“Whimsical Treasure Hunter seeks Dragon with own hoard for sneaking and stealing.”
I can think of worse ways to go than on a treasure hunt adventure.
And the hider of treasure has told people not to bother looking in winter as it would be buried in snow.
On a much smaller scale I have plans to set up a treasure hunt for my kids while camping at the lake next year, complete with a rusty old treasure box and some old coins. The trick will be to make them think they discovered it themselves, make it easy enough that they can find it in about 3 days, hard enough that it takes that long, and safe enough that they don’t get lost in the woods or fall off a cliff or something. I plan to go stash everything a week or two in advance… 
I’m sad this guy died. Good for this guy following his dream of finding treasure, he maybe should have stayed off the river or had a buddy system with another treasure hunter.
I don’t see any issue with a treasure hunt. People can choose to hunt or not, and in the course of hunting can choose how and where they hunt, in as safe or as dangerous of conditions as they choose for themselves. Personal responsibility. They can just as easily choose to fish and get caught by the river, or hike and have an accident. Life isn’t safety proofed.
Well, that’s depressing.
Why don’t we ever hear about grim search-and-rescue efforts turning into whimsical treasure hunts?
Can’t we make a reality show of this?
The only way to effectively stop it, to convince crazier hunters that it was really over, would be to take a film crew to the treasure’s location, dig it up, and display it. This only works if he actually buried $2 million in gold somewhere, which I am inclined to doubt.
Is anyone else reminded of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter?
Why is this treasure-seeker’s fate viewed as a tragedy outside of the treasure-seeker’s own lack of personal responsibility? Why is the treasure-placer being portrayed as a villain?
That’s the librul lame-stream media for you.
Thanks, Obama! Thank you, Jew York Times!
