FILE - In this March 22, 2013 file photo, Forrest Fenn sits in his home in Santa Fe, N.M. Randy Bilyeu, a treasure hunter from Colorado, disappeared in early January 2016 while searching for author Fenn's... (Associated Press) 
 
 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A treasure hunter who disappeared this year while searching for an author's cache of gold and jewels in the New Mexico wilderness was confirmed dead by authorities Tuesday after his remains were discovered west of Santa Fe. Bilyeu’s Nissan Murano was located west of Santa Fe, at the end of Buckman Road near the river, and searchers later found his dog, Leo, and an inflatable raft nine miles downstream. Bilyeu disappeared in early January while searching for antiquities dealer and writer Forrest Fenn's $2 million trove in northern New Mexico. After hiding the 10-by-10-by-five-inch chest, Fenn gave clues to its location in a six-stanza poem he included in his autobiography, The Thrill of the Chase, which he self-published in 2010. Interest in Fenn and his treasure has ballooned around the country amid national news coverage and with theories and tidbits about the search thrashed out daily on websites dedicated exclusively to the treasure hunt. More than a week passed before a worried friend reached out to Bilyeu's ex-wife in Florida, Linda Bilyeu, who filed a missing person's report on Jan. 14. But she said the father of her two daughters died looking for something that she doesn’t believe even exists. His only companion was Leo, whom Bilyeu brought on his adventures after the two moved to Colorado. It’s believed that thousands have come to the Santa Fe area to look for the treasure. Bilyeu’s ex-wife, Linda Bilyeu, said via telephone Tuesday that she was thankful for search-and-rescue efforts and the scores of volunteers who helped look for any sign of Randy over the last six months. His raft and dog were found the next day. He had a GPS device, a wetsuit and waders. She and others combed the area around the Rio Grande south of Santa Fe on the ground and in the air with drones. Bilyeu, 54, was reported missing Jan. 14 after he hadn’t been heard from for about 10 days. Sacha Johnston, an Albuquerque Fenn enthusiast, organized volunteer searches after New Mexico Search and Rescue suspended its efforts for a lack of fresh clues and set up a GoFundMe page to help Bilyeu’s family. It’s terrible.” 
 
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 Fenn also said Tuesday that the hidden treasure is not a hoax. I don’t get this treasure thing. Just the previous week, he’d chartered a helicopter to fly over the Rio Grande with a television crew and some treasure hunters. After describing the rugged terrain near where the raft was discovered, Fenn said he didn’t want anyone to find Bilyeu’s body. Interest in Fenn and the hunt blew up after a “Today Show” feature in 2013. He lost his life for a hoax.” 
 
 Fenn said from his Santa Fe home via telephone Tuesday that he was sorry to hear the news confirming Bilyeu’s death. ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 Bilyeu, who lived Broomfield, Colo., came to Santa Fe to look for Fenn’s antique treasure chest, said to hold more than $1 million worth of gold coins, jewels and artifacts. An eccentric 85-year-old from Santa Fe, Fenn has inspired a cult following since his announcement that he stashed a small bronze chest somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Fenn also joined in what became an increasingly desperate mission last winter to find Bilyeu. He has said in the past that the chest is not hidden in a dangerous place, and he told the Journal in January that “no one should search in a place where an 80-year-old man could not hide it.” 
 
 “The treasure is real, the story is real,” Fenn said Tuesday. “I don’t want anybody searching where an 80-year-old man couldn’t have made two trips,” he said.  .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... 
 
 SANTA FE – Human remains found along the Rio Grande north of Cochiti Lake on July 18 have been confirmed as those of Randy Bilyeu, a Colorado man who went missing while looking for the treasure that Santa Fe collector and author Forrest Fenn says he’s hidden in the Rocky Mountain region. Treasure hunters have searched in vain through remote corners of New Mexico, Yellowstone National Park and elsewhere in the mountains. The mystery has been featured on national networks, igniting even more interest. Three years ago, a woman from Texas — drawn by a national television report about the treasure — got lost searching the mountains near Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. “That’s very unfortunate, and I’m sorry,” Fenn said. Family and friends say Bilyeu, who would have turned 55 in February, bought a raft and set out on Jan. 5 after scouting for two weeks along the river west of Santa Fe. Santa Fe Police spokesman Greg Gurule said medical investigators confirmed the remains found along the Rio Grande north of Cochiti Lake were those of Randy Bilyeu, a 54-year-old grandfather from Colorado.
– Randy Bilyeu thought he knew where Forrest Fenn's treasure was. But instead of being the first to find the $2 million haul of jewels believed to be buried somewhere in New Mexico, he ended up being its first victim. Police confirmed Tuesday that the remains of the 54-year-old grandfather from Colorado, who disappeared in January, were discovered along the Rio Grande west of Santa Fe by a US Army Corps of Engineers crew working in the area, the AP reports. Bilyeu, who quit his job in 2014 to search for the treasure, told a friend in early January that he had finally figured out its location, 5280.com reported in an in-depth look at the disappearance earlier this month. But Fenn, who says the clues to the location are in a cryptic poem in his 2010 memoir, says the treasure is in the Rocky Mountains, not Frijoles Canyon, where Bilyeu thought the treasure chest could be found. Bilyeu was reported missing on Jan. 14, more than a week after he bought a raft and set out on his final search. His raft and dog were found the day after he was reported missing, but searchers, including family members, treasure hunters, and the 85-year-old Fenn, who chartered a helicopter to search the river for three days, could find no other trace of him. Linda Bilyeu, Bilyeu's ex-wife, tells the Albuquerque Journal that she now believes the father of her two daughters died looking for something that doesn't exist. "We're disappointed that he lost his life because of a treasure hunt," she says. "There's no treasure—it's not real. He lost his life for a hoax." Fenn says the treasure is real, and searchers should remember that it is hidden in a place that he was able to get to when he was 80 years old. (Last year, Fenn said the treasure hunt was "out of control")