Pastor Goes Missing in Search for Treasure Chest

While fellow treasure-hunters seek to help police in their search for Paris Wallace
By Gina Carey,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 18, 2017 4:30 PM CDT
Updated Jun 19, 2017 4:00 AM CDT
Pastor Goes Missing in Search for Treasure Chest
Forrest Fenn sits in his home in Santa Fe, N.M.   (AP Photo/Jeri Clausing,File)

The search for a Colorado pastor continues in northern New Mexico four days after Paris Wallace was reported missing while hunting for the elusive Forrest Fenn treasure. The Daily Sentinel reports tips from fellow treasure hunters, including Wallace's friend Wendell Smith, helped police locate the Chevrolet Tahoe Wallace was driving. There police found a receipt for equipment, including rope, that was purchased locally. Per an earlier Sentinel report, authorities also located a rope believed to belong to Wallace tied to a rock leading across the Rio Pueblo, a tributary of the Rio Grande. Wallace’s backpack was found floating miles downstream in the Rio Grande. A state police officer was able to confirm with Wallace's family that the pastor was looking for Fenn’s treasure and hadn’t been heard from since Tuesday.

The treasure, said to be a chest holding gold and jewels worth $2 million, was apparently hidden in the Rocky Mountains by art dealer Forrest Fenn. Fenn first published clues to the stash’s location in his self-published 2010 autobiography, The Thrill of the Chase, and periodically releases more hints to his following of adventure-seekers. Five search and rescue teams using trained dogs and a police helicopter are on the lookout for Wallace, along with dive teams navigating the perilously high waterways. (The body of a man hunting for Fenn's treasure was found in the Rio Grande in 2016). Smith, who says the amiable pastor would likely share the treasure upon finding it, was surprised to discover Wallace was seeking the treasure, as he himself has done some 19 times. "He never said anything to me about it. Hopefully I’ll get to talk to him soon about it." (More treasure hunters stories.)

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