Found Treasure! In Search of The Secret Casque Series: Six Questions with Andy Abrams on Finding the Cleveland Casque

This is the eleventh of a series of Six Questions with dedicated searchers of The Secret (A Treasure Hunt) published in 1982 by Byron Preiss.  The previous Six Questions of this Secret Treasure Hunt series took a look into a proposed location for a buried Casque of the Treasure Hunt. This one takes a look at a FOUND casque!

There were 12 buried casques of which only two have ever been found. One was found in Cleveland in 2004 by Brian Zinn and Andy Abrams. I was so happy to catch up with Andy who shares some of his adventure of Found Treasure in the following Six Questions! The Cleveland Casque was the second one found in the treasure hunt, and the last to date! Will knowing his solution help bring a third Secret treasure casque to the surface?!

It is known Image 4 matches with Verse 4 leading to the found casque of Cleveland!

Thanks so much for Andy sharing his adventure! It’s truly awesome and inspiring to know TREASURES are out there and can be FOUND! Enjoy!

• 1Q) When did you first hear about The Secret?  Had you participated in other treasure hunts before looking for the Cleveland Casque? 

I first learned about The Secret back in 2002 while working at the same law firm as Brian Zinn.  Apparently Brian had been working on the treasure hunt since the early 80s when the book was first published.  He came into my office and was telling me about the hunt to try and get me interested, as he felt after 20 years, it couldn’t hurt to get another person’s perspective.  At first I was only mildly interested, but that changed dramatically over time.

• 2Q) What inspired you to look for the Casque? What was the first clue you found leading to it?

 In 2004, Brian showed me a picture of the Greek Garden in the Cultural Gardens in Cleveland and the wall and columns.  I almost fainted.   I/we knew instantly in our hearts that if a casque HAD been buried, it was there.  Exactly where, we couldn’t say without being there on site, but we KNEW that we had to make that trip and check it out once and for all.  Definitely a leap of faith to get in a car and travel 16 hours to a place we had never been on a hunch and a prayer, but two days later, we left for Cleveland, nonetheless.

• 3Q) Would you mind sharing the highlights of your solution? 

The image used negative space to depict the Cleveland Terminal Tower.  There was a latitude and longitude imbedded in the image and an image of the state of Ohio in the cobblestone.  It took us from Ohio, to Cleveland and then by applying the verse, we were able to narrow down the search area.  The key to the verse was the phrase “Socrates, Apelles, Pindar” which were all found on the wall located in the Greek Garden. 

Once we found the matching image of the columns (as the verse suggested in saying “Seek the columns for your search”) and the wall in the image, along with the sea shell and lions face located in the image and also in the adjacent Italian Garden, we knew we were in the right area.  We made the choice to dig on one side of the wall after an on site investigation revealed that on one side there was a place that you could walk up six steps before getting to the base of a large flower box.  To get to the area in the box to dig, you needed to jump or “hop” up, all consistent with the verse.  Everything just magically fit.

• 4Q)What is the most unique thing you found while searching (besides the treasure)- or what did you enjoy most about your search? 

Being a 40 year old man, who was made to feel like a child all over again, digging for buried treasure.  It was more about the feeling associated with deciphering all the clues and solving a puzzle that had eluded an answer for almost 25 years, despite so many very intelligent minds that had worked so hard to figure it out.  And then knowing we had narrowed it to one spot on Earth and STILL could have dug one inch to the left or the right and gone home empty handed with no proof the casques were ever even buried. 

In real treasure hunting, there is no “X” that marks the spot.  You can do all the research in the world and get to within a few feet of the site, and you STILL need to have luck on your side.  I would add, that having been successful in our efforts and getting to meet the author afterwards, shortly before he was tragically killed in a car accident, was an afternoon and an experience I will never forget.

• 5Q) What would you say is the major obstacle preventing successful unearthings of the other Casques?  How do you feel the solution for the Cleveland Casque can help in discovering others?

 In some cases, landscapes have changed and burial sites have been revamped or reconstructed, like the children’s zoo in Houston, so that some of the casques may have been lost forever.  In other cases, natural disasters — such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans or other hurricanes that have altered the coastline in Roanoke, NC — may have destroyed the chance to recover certain casques entirely.  I believe there are still a handful of casques that remain recoverable.  They just need someone to solve the puzzles. 

I, for one, am obsessed with NY.  While each puzzle has its nuanced differences, I believe the Cleveland solve shows that once at the area, there will be visual markers and/or confirmers incorporated and hidden in the image that let you know you are in the right spot (the Cleveland Greek Wall or the fence post in Chicago).  Once there, you need only to follow the verse, which acts as an instructive map, and, with a little luck, you might get to experience the memory of a lifetime in unearthing a casque that has been buried and untouched for almost 40 years!!

• 6Q) Do you have any advice for someone else looking for these treasures, or is there something more you would like to add? 

These casques were buried before the internet.  The author was extremely bright, but I believe he wanted people to find them.  The fact that only 2 have been located in 40 years is outrageous and improbable.  Don’t make the hunt harder than it is. Search and see what is there to be seen in both the image and the corresponding verse.  Recognize that some of the imagery represents what the author saw while on site, which he took polaroids of and sent to the artist to incorporate into the image.

 Similarly, some of the verse was written on the spot and can only be understood if you are truly standing where the author once stood.  But there are clues in the image that make it possible to narrow down the location in every case.  So find a visual clue in one of the images  that tells you that you are in the right state, the right city and ultimately in the right area.  Then get out there, boots on the ground and look around.  Take a friend or a family member.  Then buckle your seatbelt and get ready for the ride of a lifetime!!

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