I found the treasure
Outs self to fight suit
A medical student has revealed himself as the mystery man who found a multimillion-dollar hidden treasure — coming forward to deny claims in a lawsuit accusing him of hacking another hunter.
“Hey Twitter, it’s been a while. Some personal news: I found the Fenn Treasure,” Jack Stuef wrote Monday of the 10-year hunt for a cache of gold coins and jewelry worth an estimated $2 million to $3 million.
Stuef, 32, also spoke to Outside magazine, which said it confirmed his identity with the family of Forrest Fenn — the eccentric Santa Fe, NM, art collector behind the treasure hunt, who died in September at the age of 90.
“I searched for it for two years, and on June 6 of this year, I retrieved the treasure from the place I found it in Wyoming, the same place Forrest hid it 10 years ago. I now own the treasure chest,” Stuef wrote on Medium.
He insisted he had wanted to remain anonymous for his family’s safety, but came forward because he was about to be identified in a “meritless lawsuit” in New Mexico.
That was brought by Chicago real-estate attorney Barbara Andersen, who has accused the finder of hacking her texts and e-mails to steal a treasure that is rightly hers, according to a report by Outside.
Stuef insisted he had never heard of Andersen, let alone hacked her. He also maintained that the treasure was found in Wyoming, not New Mexico as the lawsuit alleges.
“I am the legitimate finder and owner of the treasure, and no person has any remotely valid claim against me,” he wrote on Medium.
Stuef said that before the suit, he had hoped to remain anonymous “because Forrest and his family endured stalkers, death threats, home invasions, frivolous lawsuits, and a potential kidnapping.”
“I don’t want those things to happen to me and my family,” he wrote.