‘Missed Fortune’ investigates Forrest Fenn’s buried treasure and follows a hopeful hunter ready to risk everything on his journey
In 2010, retired art dealer Forrest Fenn captured the nation’s imagination and sparked a real-life treasure hunt when he hid $1 million worth of gold, sapphires, and rubies in the Rocky Mountains. Fenn’s autobiography, The Thrill of the Chase, contained a 24-line poem with 9 clues that inspired hundreds of thousands of hopefuls to hit the ground and search for the treasure.
This kind of hunt epitomized the American Dream and became an obsessive quest for searchers like Darrell Seyler, a former cop from Seattle. Host Peter Frick-Wright learned about Fenn’s story and contacted Seyler around the time he had figured out where the treasure was hidden and was about to go retrieve it. “Missed Fortune” was recorded in 2014 when Frick-Wright was starting his career as a writer and journalist. Frick-Wright joined Seyler in the park to search as we’ll hear from episode 1.
Hear the story and join Seyler’s search on AppleTV+’s “Missed Fortune.” Start the series from the beginning to hear Seyler’s story and connection to the hunt – from his initial research to developing plans, traveling, and executing the search. Seyler learned as much as he could about Fenn’s life and we’ll hear how he believed he cracked Fenn’s clues.
Seyler shares why a judge ordered him to stay away from Yellowstone National Park for 5 years and how he could have risked jail time at the time the podcast was recorded. Throughout the series, we learn more about Seyler’s life-long treasure obsession and how Fenn inserted himself into the hunt. Episode 3 investigates Fenn’s background as an amateur archaeologist and professional art dealer who angered many people over the years.
Fenn thought about hiding treasure after his cancer diagnosis in the 1980s. He wound up surviving and started the phenomenon in 2010, published the literary treasure map, and said it was hidden somewhere in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, or New Mexico. Over the years, 5 searchers died on the hunt. While Fenn passed away in 2020, some of his interview clips are included in the series.
Tune in weekly for new episodes of “Missed Fortune” wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.
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