N.M. police want hunt for $2M ended after two die in search

The New Mexico State Police chief wants a wealthy antiques dealer who has hidden a $2 million treasure in the Rocky Mountains to “call off the hunt” after the search turned deadly.

Thousands of people have gone looking for the gold, jewels and other trinkets since Forrest Fenn first revealed the hidden treasure’s existence in his 2010 memoir, “The Thrill of the Chase.” The clues intended to lead enthusiasts to his cache were concealed in a 24-line poem in the memoir that concluded: “So hear me all and listen good / Your effort will be worth the cold. / If you are brave and in the wood / I give you title to the gold.”

Two treasure hunters have died while searching for the treasure Fenn says is buried in New Mexico’s mountains. The most recent victim: a pastor who had gone in search of the hidden bronze chest.

“I want Mr. Fenn to retrieve the treasure or call off the hunt after he retrieves the treasure,” New Mexico State Police chief Pete Kassetas told “Good Morning America” on Thursday.

While Kassetas was being filmed by ABC News crews, he called Fenn and told him: “You had talked about giving more clues, providing more clues, to help people better find your treasure. Again, I call for you to pull it.”

Replied Fenn: “I’m not going to give a clue to help people find the treasure. I’m going to give a clue to try to keep them out of trouble — to make them safer.”

In summer 2016, Randy Bilyeu, a grandfather from Colorado, ventured into the New Mexico wilderness — and never returned. Following his disappearance, Fenn told the Associated Press that he had been helping to search for the missing 54-year-old who had set out in search of the hidden treasure.

“Every time we go out and don’t find Randy it’s discouraging, but we’re not going to give up,” Fenn told the AP at the time.

More than six months later, Santa Fe police said Bilyeu’s remains had been found near the Rio Grande.

Now, it has happened again.

Police believe they have recovered the remains of a Colorado pastor. Paris Wallace was reported missing by his wife, who confirmed the pastor from Connection Church in Grand Junction had been searching for the treasure, according to the Daily Sentinel.