Treasure hunter’s tale remains a mystery
Investigators close case without determining cause of death
ALBUQUERQUE — The case of a man who moved to the American West to search for $2 million in hidden treasure but turned up dead in New Mexico’s backcountry was officially closed after authorities struggled to solve the mystery.
Investigators recently informed Randy Bilyeu’s family, bringing some closure after more than a year of uncertainty and heartache that began when the 54-year-old father and grandfather vanished in January 2016.
He was looking for a bounty that an antiquities dealer said he stashed somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. It has inspired thousands to search in vain across remote corners of New Mexico, Yellowstone National Park and elsewhere.
Bilyeu’s family members in Florida said Tuesday that they are relieved yet saddened that they may never know what happened.
“But we haven’t given up,” said Linda Bilyeu, Randy’s ex-wife and mother of his daughters.
Authorities have returned his cellphone and laptop to the family, who plan to go through the remainder of his belongings next week while keeping watch for any new information.
Linda Bilyeu said the family is moving forward but also is working to keep his memory alive by telling his story and warning other would-be treasure hunters to proceed with caution because the risks can be grave. She spent months organizing volunteers to search for Randy Bilyeu.
His skeletal remains were discovered in the summer by a crew with the Army Corps of Engineers that had been working along the Rio Grande. Autopsy results obtained by The Associated Press showed there was not enough evidence for investigators to determine what caused Bilyeu’s death. He had no broken bones or other skeletal injuries, leaving only room for speculation.
Medical investigators said it was possible that Bilyeu was caught in a remote location in the winter either because of the weather or an injury and succumbed to hypothermia or dehydration.
He was among those drawn to the hunt after antiquities dealer and author Forrest Fenn of Santa Fe announced several years ago that he had hidden a small bronze chest containing nearly $2 million in gold, jewelry and artifacts in the Rockies. He dropped clues to its whereabouts in a cryptic poem in his memoir, The Thrill of the Chase.
Bilyeu had moved to Colorado to search for the cache. He spent a couple of weeks scouting the area — a desolate, rocky stretch of the river not far from the border of Bandelier National Monument.