Treasure hunt

X marks the spot: treasure hunters in shock after reported $2m find in Rocky Mountains

Treasure hunters have reacted with shock, delight and disbelief to the news that a chest containing gems, gold and antiques worth up to $2m has reportedly been found in the Rocky Mountains.

“I’ve had every emotion under the sun,” said Sacha Dent of Kansas, who dedicated years to a quest that resulted in the deaths of up to five people.

“First it was shock and sadness, then on Monday a mix of happiness, relief and excitement,” said Dent. “I’ve invested six years into this. Now it’s finally over. I am very happy for the person who found it.”

An eccentric New Mexico millionaire named Forrest Fenn said he hid the bronze chest in the Rockies in 2010. The only clues to the prize’s whereabouts were located in a cryptic 24-line poem written by Fenn and added to the last pages of his autobiography, The Thrill of the Chase.

“Begin it where warm waters halt / And take it in the canyon down, / Not far, but too far to walk. / Put in below the home of Brown,” reads the second stanza of Fenn’s poem that would send treasure hunters to scour five western states.