A jeweler who hails from Washington Townshp, Michigan has decided to set up a massive treasure quest in the state after being forced to close his business amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Having wiped clean the shelves at J&M Jewelers, Johnny Perri told his wife they had two options, "I said Amy, we can take everything out and retire or we can bury it across the state of Michigan."
Excitingly, the pair picked option number two, and so the idea for a massive treasure quest was born. "I was going nuts at home with nothing to do pacing back and forth," Perri said, and so he and his wife have come up with a new way to make money.
They are selling tickets for their Treasure Quests, with each prize being worth around $4,000.
"You follow the riddle, you got a little wit, a little adventure in you, you'll find it quick - I don't expect it to go more than a week," he said.
There are a limited number of tickets available for each quest, with the first hunt set to launch on August 1.
As for where the treasure might be hidden? "We went through waterfalls, streams, we kayaked everywhere," Perri revealed. The sites span from metro Detroit and throughout the Upper Peninsula. The adventure to bury all their treasure took roughly four months to complete. The spots were chosen for their special significance to Johnny Perri's life and his marriage.
"Giving people adventure is giving them something to believe in again, besides this Covid crap," Perri said.
Prospective treasure hunters can purchase tickets for the Treasure Quest events on the website, here.
But this isn't the first treasure quest to hit headlines lately. Recently, Forrest Fenn, the art and antiquities collector, confirmed to the Santa Fe New Mexican on that his famous decade-long real-life treasure hunt had been solved by a man who did not wish to be identified.
The search for a bronze chest filled with treasures such as gold and jewels that was hidden in the Rocky Mountain had been on for more than a decade.
“It was under a canopy of stars in the lush, forested vegetation of the Rocky Mountains and had not moved from the spot where I hid it more than 10 years ago," 89-year-old Forrest Fenn wrote in an announcement posted to his website, "I do not know the person who found it, but the poem in my book led him to the precise spot.
"I congratulate the thousands of people who participated in the search and hope they will continue to be drawn by the promise of other discoveries. So the search is over. Look for more information and photos in the coming days”.
The art and antiquities collector estimated that as many as 350,000 people had attempted to locate the remote treasure. Some quit their jobs in pursuit of the riches, while others even died in the attempt.
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