As a kid, and even as an adult, I have dreamt about finding buried treasure. The thrill of the hunt, the jubilation of the find, and the life changing ramifications of the future excite all of us. For most of us however, a trip to the Caribbean to hunt for gold is not feasible. Thankfully, there is a series of treasures buried across the United States and Canada just waiting to be found, and we have clues!
The book titled “The Secret, A Treasure Hunt” lays out 12 poems and 12 paintings as clues to locations of buried treasures. Each casque contains a clear acrylic box with a unique key inside. This key can be redeemed for a valuable jewel. To date, only 3 of the 12 treasures or keys have been found. How they were solved and what that means for the other 9.
The Book
In the early 1980’s a man named Byron Preiss traveled all over the United States and Canada and buried the 12 casques in prominent locations. He then wrote 12 poems detailing the locations of these buried treasures. In addition the the poems, he partnered with John Jude Palencar who painted 12 paintings. These paintings also contain clues and hints as to the treasures’ location.
In a bit of trickery however, the paintings and poems do not match up based on order in the book. This paring must be deciphered using the clues provided within themselves. For example image number 5 aligns with poem number 12.
Preiss was a publisher and hid these items to help sell his book. He was also very careful to hide these treasures in easily accessible, not dangerous locations.
The First Find
Less than a year after the book was published a group of 19 year olds found the first casque. Rob Wrobel reportedly bought the book for a friend’s birthday gift. Eric Gasiorowski eventually noticed some similarities to one of the painting and Grand Park in Chicago. As this pair began to study the painting more, several other details arouse that matched landmarks in the park.
They set out and began to dig all around the park. They are quoted as saying they dug half a dozen holes in the park as they looked. They eventually became weary of destroying the park and they reached out to Preiss. Being convinced they had the general area figured out, Preiss sent them a picture of some disturbed ground, the actual spot where he had buried the casque.
The teens then began digging their biggest hole yet, certain they had the right spot. They dug down about a foot and a half and found nothing. One of the friends threw a shovel into the hole in frustration. This heave would completely change their day as luck would have it, the shovel hit the side of the hole causing some dirt to fall off. As the searchers looked on, they could see the side of the casque now sticking out of the side of the hole where the shovel had knocked the dirt off.
As one would imagine, the teens were excited and dug the casque out and redeemed the key for their prize, a valuable emerald. This was the solution to poem 12 and painting 5. These guys are still on the hunt for some of the other unsolved treasures.
Second Find
It took about 21 years for the next treasure to be found. In 2004 a pair of treasure hunters found the second casque in Cleveland Ohio. Brian Zinn and Andy Abrams matched up poem number 4 with painting number 4 and solved the clues.
These 2 men deciphered many symbols and clues in the paintings that pointed toward roadways and Greek landmarks around Ohio. They were eventually led to the Greek Cultural Gardens in Cleveland.
Zinn and Abrams, who played in the same baseball league and had become friends, had a newspaper reporter follow them on their final dig to document their find. These two friends climbed up into a huge planter and dug for hours, finding nothing.
Convinced they had the proper location, the two hunters paused their digging efforts to look at the clues again. Abrams was able to understand the clues in a different way, pointing the pair to the opposite corner of the planter. Using probes, they eventually struck something solid. The rest is history as they unearthed the 2nd casque, redeeming their key for the prized gemstone.
These two continue working on solving the other puzzles in The Secret and were certain they solved another one in Louisiana, however they have not unearthed any new casques to date.
Most Recent Find
Fast forward another 15 years and we meet the Krupat family. The patriarch of the family, Jason had been working on and thinking about these puzzles for some time before he was forced to act.
Jason had deciphered the clues to poem 3 and image 11. He believed it to be in The North End of Langone Park. He would have dug it up earlier except he believed it to be buried under home plate of a beloved baseball field in the park.
One summer day in 2019, Krupat was out for a jog around the park and he noticed something that would make his heart sink. The baseball field was surrounded by construction fences and there was a bunch of heavy equipment inside.
Krupat approached the Forman and explained his theory, but his ramblings fell on deaf ears. Not to be detoured, Jason went home that night and wrote a long email to the construction contractor explaining everything. This company did not respond to the email but rumor of buried treasure quickly spread throughout the crew.
Krupat heard nothing from this company or foreman until one day in early October. A heavy equipment operator was digging up around home plate when he felt something break with his bucket. He immediately went to inspect what he had hit and noticed broken plexiglass. Then next day the company contacted Krupat.
Jason immediately left his work and headed to the company headquarters to inspect the pieces that had been sent there. He knew that they had solved the puzzle. Shortly after that the Krupat family and the cast and crew of Expedition Unknown returned to the site and began combing through the piles dirt that were unearthed as part of the construction. They eventually found more pieces of the treasure and the all important key (found in two pieces).
The Other 9
So what about the other 9 hidden casques? There are many proposed solutions to the other puzzles with many claiming they know the exact location of a particular treasure. For example, poem 8 in conjunction to painting 10 leads some to believe that the casque is in Lake Park in Milwaukee.
Some have dug holes around the proposed solution and have found pieces of plastic that they believe might be part of the original box, but nothing more substantial has been found.
Other problems occur due to the passage of time. Many clues mention trees, monuments, street names, or walkways etc. Obviously over the course of 30+ years trees die or get cut down. Monuments move locations, street names change and walkways move.
Some treasures have a moniker of unfindable today. For example one solution points to a promising spot, however the dig site is under a cabbage palm and the owners are not willing to let anyone dig for fear of damaging the tree. Another is said to be under a permanent walkway that would require substantial permission and permits etc to be able to dig in this site.
Go Hunt
Preiss was unfortunately killed in an automobile accident in 2005 but the family estate is keeping his promises to reward anyone who finds a key with the appropriate treasure. There is a lot of research out there about the puzzles and the paintings, all that is left to do is to go find the keys. Good luck, have fun and stay safe!
key Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash
x Photo by David Paschke on Unsplash