By Tim Binnall
A Pennsylvania man who is positive that he has determined the location of the legendary Fenn Treasure found his quest thwarted by authorities. According to a media report out of New Mexico, Scott Conway has made an astounding 17 visits to the state in search of an infamous cache of riches allegedly hidden somewhere in the area by eccentric author Forrest Fenn. However, his exhaustive treasure hunt took a rather maddening turn after he was busted by park rangers digging on state land in a spot which he believes is mere feet from the prize.
The ill-fated treasure hunt came to an abrupt end this past May when Conway and a pair of companions were digging at a location somewhere in New Mexico's Heron State Park. The impromptu excavation spawned a hole which measured a whopping 15 feet deep and a metal detector indicated that something metallic if they dug just a few feet deeper. Alas, it was not to be as park rangers showed up and stopped the crew from doing any further digging.
Conway was subsequently charged with destroying park property as well as using a metal detector in the protected area of land without a permit. In total, he was reportedly fined around $300 dollars, which is a proverbial drop in the bucket for the erstwhile treasure hunter who has spent a jaw-dropping $40,000 on the pursuit over the years. What's more difficult for Conway is that he is certain that they were about the find the treasure and now he cannot finish the dig.
To his credit, he even ventured back to New Mexico last month in an attempt to convince park officials to let him resume the dig, but was rebuffed. "They tried zero effort to look into the situation," Conway lamented, "all they see is a hole." For his part, Fenn was coy about whether or not the treasure hunter was on the right track, noting that he never claimed to have buried the riches ... but that he also never said that he didn't. Perhaps the only way to know for sure if Conway was correct is if a park ranger suddenly retires later this summer under curious circumstances and with a lot of newfound wealth.