Podcast follows the story of the unintended consequences of the search for Forrest Fenn's treasure
Aug. 12—Forrest Fenn set off a frenzied treasure hunt with his 2010 memoir, "The Thrill of the Chase."
About 350,000 people sought the riches, a handful of them losing their life along the way.
In 2014, Peter Frick-Wright wrote an article for Outside Magazine about Fenn's treasure hunt.
With months of research and interviews going into the article, Frick-Wright realized there was something more to this story.
The treasure was found shortly before Fenn's death in 2020.
Yet, Frick-Wright wanted to tell more of the story.
He is at the helm of the podcast, "Missed Fortune," which begins on Apple Podcast on Monday, Aug. 15.
"This has been a story I heard about and wrote nearly a decade ago," he says. "It's fascinating. You don't stick with a story for eight years if it's not."
The podcast follows the true story of the unintended consequences when Fenn hid gold and valuables reported to be worth at least $1 million in a secret Rocky Mountain location.
Since the hunt began, thousands of searchers have gone out in pursuit, with at least five of them losing their lives in the process, and the chase has become an international story.
Even verified reports of the treasure being found in Yellowstone National Park have not stopped searchers from continuing the controversial hunt, with litigation, threats and harassment plaguing many of those involved.
Frick-Wright says during all of the reporting up until Fenn's death, he would ask himself, "How closely do we stick to the treasure hunt?"
The story is told through the eyes of Darrell Seyler, who tells his story with the hunt.
"I think we had a fair idea of the structure of the series when we were making it," he says. "I followed Darrell for all these years. We kept going out on treasure hunts. I knew the major points of the series. We knew the territory that we wanted to cover. We were surprised with what we found out. In the first three episodes, we go into deep detail of it all."
Frick-Wright worked on the series full time for nearly two years.
"I spent the pandemic putting this together," he says. "It was definitely the kind of thing that I made space for in my life. I pushed aside work to get the podcast up and running."
Frick-Wright was in Santa Fe recently covering that last lawsuit that was open against Fenn.
"There are folks that have been spending time on this treasure hunt," he says. "It started with a poem that was supposed to show where the treasure is. The journey became a chapter in people's lives. People got something different from what was promised."
Frick-Wright says Seyler's story in the podcast is unique but universal.
"Lots of people got very invested in the journey," he says. "They were consumed by something. I think listeners will recognize parts of themselves in the story. I hope people look at the story differently now."
Online
Peter Frick-Wright's podcast, "Missed Fortune," is available on Monday, Aug. 15, on Apple Podcasts.
