Which lost treasure stories are real? (Lost treasure that was never recovered)

Arizona, the Walnut Grove Dam safe: the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner (Feb 26, 1890) wrote it 'was swept away and no trace has, after the most diligent search, been found of it'; on Mar 5 it was thought 'buried in the sand, as an eddy was formed where his building stood'; on Mar 12, 'His safe with its precious contents of $7,000 has not yet been found.' The site is now largely BLM wilderness, where digging up objects over 100 years old needs a federal permit.

Nevada: the 1870 Verdi train robbery, the first in the West, took about $41,600 in coin; contemporary reports say all but a few thousand dollars were recovered. In the 1916 Jarbidge stage robbery the silver was recovered; what stayed missing was a few thousand dollars in paper currency.

Arizona: the 1883 Riverside stage silver was dug up when a robber led a posse to it (Arizona Silver Belt, Sept 1, 1883); the 1889 Canyon Diablo train robbers took under $800 by contemporary reports and were captured; the 1889 Wham Paymaster coin was, by trial testimony, hidden in a haystack and spent.

This is the test PinPoint Treasure applies in every state and country: find the earliest record, check whether the valuables were recovered, and publish the verdict either way. State pages list each state's documented cases.

Sources: Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, Prescott, Feb 26, Mar 5 and Mar 12, 1890 (Library of Congress Chronicling America); Arizona Silver Belt, Globe, Sept 1, 1883 and May 18, 1889; Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, Nov 27, 1889 (Wham trial testimony); Nevada newspapers, Nov 1870 and Dec 1916 (Chronicling America).

What famous robbery loot was never recovered? Famous unrecovered loot includes most of D.B. Cooper's $200,000 ransom (1971), the 13 artworks stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston (1990), and most of the cash and jewels from the 1978 Lufthansa heist at JFK Airport. Old West stagecoach and train robberies left many cache legends, though few have contemporary records of a hidden cache.

What lost treasures are in my state? (Lost treasures by state) Every US state has lost treasure stories, but only some have records behind them. Well-known examples: the Lost Dutchman Mine (Arizona), the 1715 Spanish fleet (Florida), the Beale treasure (Virginia), the Lost Adams Diggings (New Mexico), the Lost Blue Bucket Mine (Oregon), Jean Lafitte's treasure (Louisiana), Captain Kidd's treasure (New York), the Lost San Saba Mine (Texas) and D.B. Cooper's money (Washington). PinPoint Treasure has a page for each of the 50 states listing its documented cases, detecting laws and the agencies that manage the land.

What famous lost treasures have never been found? Famous lost treasures never found include the Lost Dutchman Mine (Arizona), the Amber Room (missing since 1945), the unlocated wrecks of the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet (Florida), King John's baggage train (lost in The Wash, England, 1216), the Copper Scroll's 64 hiding places (Dead Sea Scrolls), Montezuma's gold (lost by the Spanish fleeing Tenochtitlan in 1520), the Beale treasure (Virginia) and the Oak Island money pit (Nova Scotia). The 'Nazi gold train' in Wałbrzych, Poland was dug for in 2016 and nothing was found.

How can I find lost or unclaimed money in my state? Every US state holds forgotten money (old bank accounts, uncashed paychecks and refunds, insurance payouts, utility deposits and safe-deposit box contents) in an unclaimed property program, usually run by the state treasurer, controller or revenue department. Search your name free at MissingMoney.com, the official multi-state search endorsed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, and on your state's own site. Claiming is free; you never need to pay a finder.