The decade-long hunt captured the world's attention, but when it finally ended in June, everyone still wanted to know: Who had solved the mystery? This week, as legal proceedings threaten his anonymity, a 32-year-old medical student is ready to go on the record.
The treasure hunt immediately brought him back to his youth, when he was obsessed with a 2002 TV series called Push, Nevada, which allowed viewers to try and solve a real-life mystery that carried a million-dollar prize. Stuef also got caught up in a book by magician David Blaine, Mysterious Stranger, which combined autobiography with a treasure hunt and offered a $100,000 prize.
Last week, after a lull in our ongoing conversation, the finder emailed again, explaining that one of the court cases surrounding the find had taken an unexpected turn, and his name was likely to come out as part of the process. So he told me who he was, and gave me permission to tell the world.
The case that prompted him to step from behind the curtain was brought by a Chicago real estate attorney named Barbara Andersen, who alleges that the unknown finder of the treasure had located it by hacking her texts and emails and stealing her solve. She believed the treasure was in New Mexico.
People have died looking for the chest. Others have gone bankrupt. Many more have spent countless hours in search of it, and they want some degree of resolution. On our various excursions out West, my search partner and I both found ourselves a little too obsessed at points, and it took its toll. There are real human costs to this search, and knowing the final location could offer the desired sense of closure so many are now seeking.
So far, ownership of the chest has not made Stuef a rich man. He has not sold it yet, has not even had it appraised, but the expected windfall has allowed him to quit worrying about repaying his student loans for medical school. With that in mind, he has decided to leave the profession before becoming a practicing doctor, and may move into equities investing next.
The Lost & Found contacts are for items left at TSA security checkpoints or items missing from checked baggage. For items left in other areas of the airport, please check the airport's website for contact information.
Passengers are encouraged to place their contact information on the outside of their electronics, such as laptops, in case the item is left behind. TSA will make every effort to reunite passengers with their belongings.
Unclaimed electronics will have its memory removed and destroyed (e.g. laptop hard drive) or be destroyed completely (e.g. items with non-removable memory) to protect personal data after the 30-day holding period.
TSA makes every effort to reunite passengers with items left behind at the airport checkpoint. Lost and found items retained by TSA for a minimum of thirty (30) days, and if not claimed, are either destroyed, turned over to a state agency for surplus property, or sold by TSA as excess property. The state may dispose of the items through sales, destruction, donations or charities. The state keeps any money from sales, not TSA. At a number of locations, lost and found items are turned over to the airport at the end of each day.
All claims are investigated thoroughly and the final decision to approve a claim rests with TSA. If your claim is approved, you will receive a letter and form to complete regarding settlement agreement and/or payment methods. You can check the status of your claim at any time.
A jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996. The jury awarded her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House. (May 9) (AP video: David R Martin, Robert Bumsted)
A jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House. (May 9)
E. Jean Carroll, center, walks out of Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in New York. A jury has found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing the advice columnist in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
E. Jean Carroll, center, walks out of Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in New York. A jury has found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing the advice columnist in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
E. Jean Carroll walks out of Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in New York. A jury has found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing the advice columnist in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
In this courtroom sketch, E. Jean Carroll turns around and smiles at the jury as they are being polled after reading the verdict in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
In this courtroom sketch, Judge Lewis Kaplan reads the jury instructions prior to their deliberations in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in New York, in a lawsuit brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll, who alleges that Donald Trump raped her in a luxury Manhattan department store in 1996. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
CORRECTS DATE TO MAY 9, 2023 - E. Jean Carroll, center, walks out of Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in New York. A jury has found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing the advice columnist in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
She nodded as the verdict was announced in a New York City federal courtroom only three hours after deliberations had begun, then hugged supporters and smiled through tears. As the courtroom cleared, Carroll could be heard laughing and crying.
Carroll was one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. She went public in a 2019 memoir with her allegation that the Republican raped her in the dressing room of a posh Manhattan department store.
Jurors also heard from Jessica Leeds, a former stockbroker who testified that Trump abruptly groped her against her will on an airline flight in the 1970s, and from Natasha Stoynoff, a writer who said Trump forcibly kissed her against her will while she was interviewing him for a 2005 article.
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