Pastor Hunting for Hidden Treasure in New Mexico Rocky Mountains Goes Missing; Body Found Days Later
The glitter of gold must have proved irresistible for this pastor from Colorado who went on a daring solo hunt for a treasure chest filled with gold believed to be worth millions of dollars in the New Mexico Rocky Mountains earlier this month.
However, three days after Pastor Paris Wallace, 52, left home in Clifton, Colorado on June 12, he was declared missing. On Sunday, a male body was found by authorities in the Rio Grande River near Pilar, New Mexico, NBC News reported.
Officers believe the recovered body was that of Wallace, but there has been no official confirmation of this yet.
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Wallace reportedly told his family that he'd be heading out on a journey to find a treasure that was placed somewhere in the Rocky Mountains in 2010 by multi-millionaire and art dealer Forrest Fenn, according to CBS News.
"I wanted everybody to go look for it. I wanted a man and his wife and their three or five kids to get off the couch and out of the game room and go look for it," the 86-year-old tycoon told the Nightly News in 2013. "It's the thrill of the chase."
Last September, Fenn further whetted the appetite of treasure hunters by announcing that his treasure consisted of more than 40 pounds of gold, all inside a bronze treasure chest — a package he said is worth around $2 million.
His website claims the treasure is hidden "somewhere in the mountains north of Santa Fe." A book he authored even provided clues and a map on how to find the treasure chest.
Fenn was struck with grief upon learning of the pastor's presumed death. In an interview with Colorado news site Westword, Fenn said his "heart is heavy" and that "words cannot describe the depth of my feelings."
He offered prayers for Wallace's family, friends and congregation.
The pastor was not the first person to have gone missing after setting out to find Fenn's alleged treasure. Randy Bilyeu, 54, also from Colorado, disappeared in January 2016 while hunting for the treasure in the New Mexico Rocky Mountains. It took six months before his remains were recovered.
A woman from Texas who also went on a quest for the treasure in March 2013 was luckier. Although she didn't find the chest full of gold, she was rescued after surviving one freezing night in the New Mexico wilderness, according to TODAY.
