True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

You are here: Home / Dumb + Dumberer / Treasure Hunter Pleads Guilty to Digging in Yellowstone Cemetery

Treasure Hunter Pleads Guilty to Digging in Yellowstone Cemetery

January 6, 2021 By HardBoiledNews Staff

Loading...

CASPER, Wyoming — A fanciful fortune hunter has pleaded guilty after being caught digging in a cemetery in Yellowstone National Park in search of a fabled hidden treasure.

Rodrick Dow Craythorn, 52, of Syracuse, Utah, was searching for a treasure chest containing coins, gold and other valuables left somewhere in the Rocky Mountains a decade ago by Santa Fe, New Mexico, art and antiquities dealer Forrest Fenn, who published a book with a poem containing clues to where the treasure could be found.

The Fenn legend  has led dozens to search for the treasure — estimated to be worth as much as $1 million — but has resulted in several rescues of people who got stuck in dangerous situations. Six deaths have been attributed to the hunt. 

“The hunt for the Forrest Fenn treasure was often viewed as a harmless diversion, but in this case it led to substantial damage to important public resources,” Wyoming U.S. Attorney Mark Klaassen said Tuesday.

Craythorn admitted digging within the Fort Yellowstone Cemetery in Yellowstone National Park on two separate occasions in Oct. 2019 and May 2020. Prosecutors say he caused more tham $1,000 in damage.

He pleaded guilty in federal court in Casper, Wyoming to illegally excavating or trafficking in archaeological resources and to damaging federal property. He faces up to 12 years in prison 

Fenn died at age 90 in September, three months after announcing the treasure had been found. A grandson of Fenn confirmed in December the finder was Jonathan “Jack” Stuef, 32, a medical student from Michigan.

Fenn said before his death the treasure was in Wyoming but neither Stuef nor Fenn’s relatives have said where exactly

Fenn for years hinted the treasure was north of Santa Fe in the Rocky Mountains of either New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming or Montana. 

Filed Under: Dumb + Dumberer, STORY OF THE DAY, Wyoming

Follow Hard Boiled News

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

* indicates required

Most Wanted

  • Sick Border Agent Charged With Pouring Urine on Boss’ Desk on Last Day on Job
  • Identical Twin Sisters Eyed in Arkansas Shooting Slay
  • Florida Man Says He Blew Up Truck to Give Cops Something to Do
  • Sicko Son Kills Dad, Stepmom With Machete For Trying to Stop Sex Assault
  • Granddaughter Fatally Stabs Grandfather in Fight Over Lock
  • Tomb Raiders Busted Stealing Skulls from Florida Cemetery for Religious Rituals
  • Husband Charged in Murder of Pregnant Schoolteacher Wife
  • Railway Spike Killer Gets Life in Murder Spree That Targeted the Homeless
  • Video Shows Car Fly Off Road Into Row of Vehicles in Ohio Auto Lot
  • Good Samaritan Gets Robbed and Stabbed While Trying to Help

Copyright © 2021 · HardBoiledNews · Send Story Ideas · Contact Us