10/5/24 UPDATE: We now know the identity of the clever treasure hunter who tracked down the gold statue.
A massive, digital treasure hunt for a very real pair of prizes, including a gold statue worth more than $25,000, has ended as the statue was found in the woods of Massachusetts.
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But the person who found the Project Skydrop statue — and has the right to claim an $87,600.00 bounty — has yet to come forward.
The treasure hunt, previously described to NBC10 Boston by a cofounder as a "real-world adventure," stirred major interest from puzzle enthusiasts and others. The founders created clues to make this treasure hunt hard, but not too hard, sharing a search area where the 10-ounce, 24-karat gold statue could be that shrank every day. People could also pay $20 to receive a daily clue, which helped fund the bounty.
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The circle was centered roughly on Greenfield, Massachusetts, north along the Connecticut River from Springfield.
The person who tracked the statue down was seen on cameras grabbing the puzzle off the floor, but the Skydrop organizers say they haven't heard from the person yet — though someone else, a market owner in Erving, Massachusetts, met him while out hiking and shared images.
Cofounder Jason Rohrer shared this statement in an email Wednesday:
I was shocked last night at around 6pm when I checked the live camera feed and saw that the treasure was gone. My wife was shouting from the other room, 'Oh my god! It's gone! Jason, it's gone!' For the time being, the winner is mysterious, and it was pretty hard to sleep last night thinking about this, wondering how he solved it. From what we've been able to gather from the people who met him, he seems like a scientist who used lots of data to narrow down the locations, including weather patterns and tree habitat maps. Very impressive! I was pretty sure it would be impossible to solve for a few more days, but then again, there are very smart people out there. I was prepared to be surprised by an early find. Thirteen days in, though, it was a long and amazing hunt. It's cool that the mystery continues, at least for the time being.
