Legend Says There’s $500,000 in Jewelry Under a Missouri Oak Tree
Let me tell you a story about how thieves nearly 100 years ago stole a ton of jewelry in Missouri. The theft really happened and the riches they stole have never been found although legend says they're buried somewhere in the state under an oak tree.
Legends of America is one of the sources for this jewelry legend. The story begins in 1927 in the Independence part of Missouri. Thieves stole what was then $25,000 worth of jewels from a KC area jewelry store. Thanks to inflation, that equals almost a half million dollars in 2022. While the fled the law, the thieves buried the jewels with the intention of retrieving them later.
Where did they bury the loot?
According to several sources including Only In Your State, the thieves buried the jewelry under an oak tree somewhere within 6 miles of Independence, Missouri. Legends of America says that oak tree was "six miles east of Independence". You have to remember this measurement was given almost 100 years ago in 1927 when that was a completely different area than it is now.
Where could the jewelry be today?
The Independence, Missouri of 1927 now makes up suburbs in Kansas City more or less. It's entirely possible that there is a family in the KC area of Missouri that has an old oak tree in the front yard that used to be in the middle of nowhere that now has a small fortune in jewels hidden under it.
If I were in that region, I'd find rent myself some ground-scanning radar and kindly ask permission to investigate a 6 mile radius from Independence where large oak trees were. The payoff may be beyond your wildest dreams if you guess the right tree. If nothing else, that would make for a fun weekend adventure.