The Hope Chest Treasure Hunt: Overview and Six Questions with Cris Dotson

The Hope Chest Treasure Hunt Overview

Released in 2023 by Cris Dotson
Clues within the book (available on Hunt’s Website)
A series of 4 tags are hidden. Each must be found in order.
BOTG required
Treasure is $50,000 cash

How Does a Searcher Find the Hope Chest Tags and Claim the Treasure?

To get started in the hunt searchers need to read the book. It’s available on the hunt’s website. Clues to help find ALL 4 tags and the final hidden Treasure Capsule are in the book. However, upon finding each tag, an additional poem is presented to you. Each of these holds clues to find the next tag.

Have any Hope Chest Hunt Tags Been Found?

Yes, the first tag – the green tag – has been found by a few searchers since the hunt’s release. These searchers have received a second poem to help discover the location of the next tag – the red tag.

As of this update (2/8/25) Cris has not announced the Red Tag has been found. He has recently released some answers to questions, however, which might provide more help to finding the tags. (Hope Chest Q/A recap)

In October 2024 Cris has also released a video of a clue for the Red Tag.

Where are the Tags Hidden?

Cris has said the tags are hidden somewhere within the following five States: Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

In November of 2024 Cris did release TAG #2 was NOT IN KENTUCKY.

MW Six Questions with Cris Dotson

The Hope Chest Treasure Hunt by Cris and Julie Dotson holds a prize currently at $50,000 cash! Inspired by The Thrill of the Chase by Forrest Fenn, searchers need to understand a poem to locate a hidden tag. Clues scattered in the text and images of the book will help a searcher. Unlike The Thrill of the Chase, however, where there was only one poem and one location to discover, in The Hope Chest there are five eventual poems you will need to solve – each leading to a location needed to claim the Treasure! Exciting!

Let’s see if Cris will offer any help to searchers in the following Six Questions! Enjoy!

Six Questions with Cris:

1Q) Congrats on the launch of your treasure hunt! The stories within are inspirational, intense, and extraordinary. They convey a passion and determination for life, as well as the importance of the Quest. Please share how someone can get involved in The Hope Chest treasure hunt.

Easy, go to TheHopeChestHunt.com and purchase a book. That is the only way you can be eligible for the cash prize. You will have to register and agree to the terms before you can start the hunt. Then I advise you to study the book and the map before going boots on the ground.

2Q) On page 3 of the book is: “The first poem is in the book. Figure out that poem with the help of the clues scattered throughout the book. This will lead you to the first tag.” Question: Are there clues within the book to help with finding all 4 tags, and then also the buried capsule? Or just the first one? Are the scattered clues like cracking codes and ciphers? Or are they more like understanding word play, realizing references to locations, and such things like that? Or a bit of everything?

Yes, the book is to help find the tags and capsule. Exactly! A bit of everything and then some.

3Q) On TheHopeChest website, under rules, it is mentioned ‘No social media sharing’. But do you encourage searchers to freely brainstorm and discuss ideas, thoughts, and possibilities for clues – and just to NOT share confirmed discoveries (like the location of a tag). Or do you prefer NO discussions or sharing about anything– under any circumstance?

I want people to build relationships that will last and be respectful not to ruin the hunt for others. If you have no one to share some thing with it’s a lot less enjoyable. Just be mindful.

4Q) It’s mentioned, and encouraged, searchers send you questions to answer (for $2 each). How do you plan to keep the hunt fair to all, and not feel like a pay to play hunt? When you answer questions will you be privately giving out hints to those that can afford to ask the extra questions – or will you answer and post ALL paid questions publicly on your website?

I seen what Forest went through and I just wanted to weed out any nonsense. When people are forced to have a little skin in the game they are more likely to stop and think more about what they are doing or saying. No post.

5Q) What advice can you give searchers? Like, is these any special knowledge needed to crack the clues or solve the poems? Can the tags’ general location be realized by solving clues and the poems all from home (obviously not physically found/but known)? Or is the visiting of locations needed to understand the clues and poems and their ultimate meanings? Will a searcher know for sure they have solved the poem before ever heading out the door to the location of the tag?

I created this as a adventure so people will get out and smell the sunshine! With that being said the only reason you should be setting at home is if you like reading at home. But after studying the book a few times through it’s time to get out there.