Dumbass Treasure Island

Treasure hunter falls victim to possible 30-year-old prank
By Jim Suhr, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ST. LOUIS -- An Illinois woman who set out on a treasure hunt for buried gold coins after finding a cryptic note in an antique rocking chair may have been the victim of a prolific prankster who died more than 30 years ago.

With help of a donated backhoe, Patty Henken recently tore up a vacant lot in Springfield, Ill., where a typewritten note signed by "Chauncey Wolcott" - found in an old chair she bought at auction last November - suggested she would find a chest containing more than $250 in U.S. gold coins.

The dig turned up nothing but bricks and old bottles. Henken planned to return Tuesday with the donated services of a man with ground-penetrating radar meant to detect any buried items, but the treasure note's promise may already be debunked.

An Iowa woman who read news accounts of the hunt said she knows Wolcott's true identity: John "Jay" Slaven, a notorious practical joker and coin collector who often used a typewriter in his pranks.

Slaven used the pen name "Chauncey Wolcott" and lived for decades at the location where the dig took place, until his 1976 death, according to Betty Atkinson Ryan of Mason City, Iowa. She e-mailed a columnist for the State Journal-Register of Springfield to set the record straight.

Atkinson Ryan told the newspaper that Slaven was her boss in the Journal-Register's classified advertising department decades ago. She said Slaven often used a typewriter to compose some of his jokes and signed them "Chauncey Wolcott." The newspaper said archived news articles described Slaven as an actor with a "booming voice" that he used in television appearances, about 50 radio shows and to narrate the annual Illinois State Fair film.

Henken's life got interesting in May when, while prying off the seat of a rickety rocking chair she bought at auction five months earlier, she discovered a small envelope with "Finders Keepers" typewritten on it. Inside, a key was taped to a typed note.

"This DEXTER key (number sign) 50644T will unlock a lead chest," the note began, before spelling out a location in Springfield - 1028 N. Fifth St. - where a chest containing more than $250 in U.S. gold coins supposedly was buried about 3.5 metres below ground.

Henken, of Mount Sterling, Ill., said Sunday that she was disappointed there's no closure but still was hopeful Slaven may have left something to unearth.

"My friends feel like I was cheated out of finalizing this," said the 48-year-old Henken, a window clerk at the post office in Mount Sterling. "There's something down there. He wouldn't play a practical joke without leaving me something."

You've got to go ahead and read this story because its great. I originally was going to run this story before I even knew it was a prank because I found it so odd. My major question was, do gold coins go up in value? Because if this lady was willing to rent a backhoe and waste her time I would hope it was for more than $250. So if any coin nuts know about this let me know.

But you've got to love this dead guy playing a goof. I wonder if he had the foresite to realize that some day a person would find his note and waste a massive amount of time and resources to find this "treasure." Maybe he was like the Nostradamus of practical jokes. If so, I commend him. Prankster Hall of Famer for sure.