Anybody misplace a treasure chest?
A mysterious wooden chest was discovered by a jogger Friday morning bobbing in the Hudson River against the shoreline rocks near West 104th Street. Stackable Wooden Crates
The discoverer of the chest, who wishes to remain anonymous, carefully pulled it out of the water to find it locked, before carrying it over to Riverside Drive and taking the bus home.
Once home, he was able to get the chest open, but it only left him with more questions.
“Opening it to reveal its contents only fueled my curiosity further because I’m not sure what the objects inside are, or their significance,” the discoverer told West Side Rag.
The discoverer of the chest did not specify what he found inside, but said his intention was to “reunite the objects with the owner or someone that will truly appreciate them,” while remaining anonymous.
“Did it fall off a vehicle from the nearby West Side Highway? Or from a north- or southbound vessel? It could have floated in from New York Harbor, or downstream from upstate. Or was it purposely left in the river to be found,” he added.
If anybody knows the chest’s origin, or, particularly, if someone is searching for it, please let us know in the comment section or email at info@westsiderag.com.
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Was the person who found the chest named Geraldo by any chance?
Did this guy just fall off the corncob truck from Iowa? No true NYer would’ve chanced going into that
Hey, don’t knock people from Iowa. I was born their and moved to NY 40 years ago and still return occasionally.
As long as it wasn’t body parts.
They looked for his body at a home not too far from where I lived in Stafford Springs, CT. Supposedly someone with the Mafia had it for a vacation home. Obviously nothing was found.
Stafford CT Small world born n raised there. Where was the house. l don’t remember hearing that one?
Jimmy Hoffa was eaten by his own hogs on his farm in up State Michigan. That’s why his body was never found
Brings to mind the song from the 50’s: The Thing, by Phil Harris:
As I was walking down the beach one bright and sunny day I saw a great big wooden box a floating in the bay I pulled it in and opened it up, and much to my surprise, Why, I discovered a (three knocks on wood on the recording) right before my eyes.
It goes on to tell a long, tragic tale of loss of friends and anger from the world with a moral:
The moral of this story is If you’re out on the beach And you should see a great big box And it’s within your reach Don’t ever stop and open it up That’s my advice to you ‘Cause you’ll never get rid of the (three knocks)… No matter what you do Oh, you’ll never get rid of the… No matter what you do.
3 knocks and that is evil 😈 calling the devil if you knock. 3 blood lines on your body is letting you know what you let out. I’m praying 🙏 you will be able to get rid of it!!
Song also featured in “The Last Picture Show” swimming pool scene!
I always loved that song. Thanks for the reminder. It’s truly appropriate!
Wow!! How mysteriously cool! But what’s inside?? Do tell!
C’mon! Can we have some clues as to WHAT was inside? A photo of some of the objects? UWS sleuths need a little more to go on here please… [fun story also].
The photo has no specific photo credit. and makes me wonder whether it was conjured up using AI software (“Give me a photo of a wooden crate on a riverbank”). The policy of this paper to date has been no heavily post-processed photos are allowable; still, it’s written in a column titled Absurdity. Could this possibly be just a fun article for amusement?
I resent your implication that a reliable local paper like the WSR would make up news “for amusement” — as well as the implication that New York city doesn’t have enough happenings for a paper to cover!
Agree about the photo. Story seems off to me, too. For fun, or as an experiment about “fake news?”
That’s a good point considering when you look at this “mysterious” wood box it seems to somehow miraculously have no water damage or warping or any sign of ever being wet if it’s supposedly been floating in the river for god knows how long…
Oh! I do hope you carry forward with this story. I appreciate why the finder did not want to reveal anything yet. But it has the makings of a bit of fun, or is it intrigue or worse? As a reader of forensic anthropologist authored books, I can also see some creepy or sad possibilities.
Here’s the thing he’s not revealing what is inside probably for the reason of identifying the owner. It’s kind of like finding someone’s wallet with money u don’t say how much because the amount of money is something only the wallet’s owner would know. So obviously if someone claims the chest they should be able to identify the contents
Patricia Cornwell could do something great with this!
OMG!!! West Side Rag how could you leave us hanging without even a hint as to the contents???
That thing is in astonishingly good condition for having wended its way (how, exactly?) to the river after a fall from a truck on the WSH, and/or having soaked in the Hudson (and nothing like anything transported in NY Harbor). Probably neither Hoffa parts nor doubloons inside given it was schlepped to the bus.
What’s in the box?!
Good for the person who fished it out and reported it! I hope we get to hear the outcome.
Whoever can name the contents is the rightful owner. Any runner-up prize for a good guess?
Jimmy Hoffa’s head in a jar
’tis me chest that was lost at sea! immediately return it by placin’ it under the 12th tree t’ the west o’ the ole sailors’ monument. If nah, curses worse than ye can ever imagine will come t’ ye ‘n yer family fer generations!
Oh man, a Pandora’s box. I would have been afraid to open it. Or called the police. I saw a dismembered arm on the street once. The rest of her was found in trash cans down the street. No way in hell I would have opened that.
Can you share the items that were inside with us? Maybe we can figure it out together.
Is it thr chest with heart of the captain of the pirate ship 😂
The chest looks in good condition. Makes me wonder if someone puposely place it in the water with interesting contents so as to create a mystery puzzle for us all.
It wasnt a treasure chest. It was a makeshift houseboat. 4 illegals were living in it
you simply can’t report finding a mysterious chest in the river and then not describe its contents – that’s rule 1 of storytelling
This sounds like a fabricated story. He opened the chest and his refusing to reveal what’s in it.
I am really interested in this happening, but also wonder if it is real. There is o water damage, the crate looks new and also it look heavy. For the finder of this chest to have carried it to his apartment, seems odd.
Honestly, what a lot of kerfuffle! I’m sure the mystery will be revealed to us in due course.
re : original article from West Side Rag: https://www.westsiderag.com/2023/11/17/uws-mysteries-wooden-treasure-chest-found-floating-in-the-hudson-river
Oh no! I can see this becoming a trend.
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