Randy Bilyeu
The first person to lose his life while searching for Forrest’s treasure chest was Randy Bilyeu. He was a 54-year-old man who temporarily relocated from Colorado to New Mexico, and it became apparent that he wasn’t going to go home until he completed his mission, even if it cost him his life. Sadly, that’s exactly what happened.
During a two-week journey up the mountain, he and his pet dog, Leo, took a raft along the river that bordered the Bandelier National Monument. But after several weeks of radio silence, his ex-wife filed a missing report. The next day, an S&R team located his raft and Leo, but Randy was missing.