Special Report: A Treasure's Trove

This fairy tale, "a treasure's trove" is much bigger than mystical stories of fairies, elves and sprites. Hidden within its pages are clues that guide readers to 12 real-life treasures, valued at more than $1 million dollars. Its author, Michael Stadther, hid tokens for the jewels throughout the country.

Prof. David Somers/ Boston university
" I had heard about the treasure hunt..."

Boston University psychology professor, David Somers bought the book for his 3 daughters. All the treasures were found, except this one, a $50,000 jeweled beetle. And Somers thought he could find it.

Prof. David Somers
" It went from, this fun thing I did with the kids to this transition where, I think I could solve this."

But finding the clues, and cracking their code isn't kid stuff. Number matrixes must line up perfectly. This is the page that Somers and other treasure hunters were studying.

Prof. David Somers
"The author really loved visual illusion and visual perception, and that happens to be my research of expertise."

These wood grains are the clues to where the jewel was hidden. Turns out, there are 480 different ways you could read them. With the help of a computer program, Somers found his answer- badlands national park in South Dakota.

Prof. David Somers
"I was absolutely giddy. When I had solved the puzzle, I was immediately certain I had found it."

But he still had to find the exact tree. He and his best friend, mark raced to badlands and found a lone tree. But all the visible knotholes were empty.

The way Somers remembers it, " mark said, 'I’m going to climb the tree.' And I said, 'don't climb the tree, that's ridiculous', and within 20 seconds he looked down and said. 'Oh, there it is.'"

And there it was.

Somers adds, "that joy and rush of insight was amazing."

Of course, Somers daughters are thrilled. But there's one more treasure to be found- an uncut black diamond worth thousands. And we might have a clue where to look - on our website, whdh.com. Happy hunting...

Click to find out how to start looking for the black diamond...

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