Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClane Smith, where for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make it into the previous show. In last week's episode, The Longest Road, we wound our way through the strange and mysterious tale of the Lost Dutchman's Mind. The story has grown more and more convoluted over the years and has
captured many a colorful character in its web. Needless to say, it was impossible to include everything in such a short space of time, So I'd like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to sometime opera singer and
full time Lost Dutchman enthusiast celest Marie Jones. Starting in the late nineteen fifties, Jones spent over thirty years stalking the mountains, rarely seen without her trustee sorn Off rifle and pistol strapped to her waist, battling many a foe, both real and imagined in her epic quest to find the treasure. But sadly, just like everyone else, she too
was eventually forced to concede defeat. It is also worth mentioning the Parolta Stones, a set of sandstone tablets engraved with what is purported to be a map leading to the location of the infamous mine, apparently discovered sometime in the nineteen fifties. Though most believed the stones to be fake, some maintained they are genuine artifacts dating back to eighteen forty seven that were created by a member of the famed Parolta family, upon whose apparent old abandoned mine the
entire myth is founded. We should perhaps add two that this major aspect of the story is also heavily contested, since there is no concrete evidence to confirm the family had ever even mind in the Superstition Mountains. Jesse Capon, who tragic he died in two thousand and nine while looking for the treasure, was not even the last person
to lose their life in the process. The year after his attempt, three men from Utah, forty nine year old Curtis Merwith, sixty six year old Arden Charles, and forty one year old Malcolm Meeks, also died after planning to spend three days in the Superstitions as they hunted for the gold. Their remains were found six months later, after all three of them failed to return home. Though there are numerous stories of lost gold and famed treasure hunts,
with perhaps the Oak Island mystery being the closest. Certainly with regard to the cost of lives, none can really hold a candle to this most shaggy and enigmatic of tales. It does, however, give me an excuse to talk about one of my favorite lost treasure locations, a curious mystical
place called Rein les Chateau. A narrow, dusty road leads to Rein les Chateau, a quintessential southern French village perched high on a hill roughly fifty kilometers from the border with Spain, surrounded by rich, verdant fields and rolling tree covered hills. This small commune that dates back to medieval times should, under normal circumstances be a place of relative obscurity,
but Rein les Chateau is no ordinary place. For thousands of visitors each year, this quaint, humbled village has become a site of intense pilgrimage thanks to the emergence of tantalizing rumors connecting it to everything from supposed secret society the priory of Scion, to the ark of the Covenant, and even the Holy Grail itself. And at the center of it all, perched high up on a cliff at the northern edge of the village, lies the strange and
beguiling Church of Saint Mary Magdalene. At its peak, over one hundred and twenty thousand visitors were pouring into the village each year, despite having less than a hundred full time residents, as well as over seven hundred books or dedicated to unraveling its secrets. It has also inspired one of the world's best selling books of all time, in
Dan Browne's The Da Vinci Code. Over decades, many lured in by Dan Brown's book as much as anything else, have gone to increasingly extreme measures, tunneling through the church walls, digging up basements and graves, and even resorting to explosives in their frenzied attempts to find whatever treasure it is they believed to be located there. So how did this simple settlement come to inspire such hysteria? The answer lies
in one name. Baron Jay Sognier baronchet Sonnier was a Roman Catholic priest who worked at Reine le Chateau from eighteen eighty five to nineteen oh five. When he initially moved there, he lived a fairly hand to mouth existence on a salary of seven hundred and twenty francs a year, worth something in the region of fifteen thousand US dollars in today's money. However, with each passing year, Sournier's spending began to increase dramatically, as noted in his accounts, going
far beyond the reach of his meager salary. Reveling in this mysterious newfound wealth, the priest began to spend frivolous amounts renovating the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, which dates back to the eighth century and had been in poor condition for years. Lavish details and embellishments were added, such as ornate stained glass windows and extensions to the building's foot including a private residential villa just for the priest.
Over the ten years of his residency, he is thought to have spent well into the tens of thousands of francs on the project, with some even claiming his expenditure ran up into the millions by today's standards. But it wasn't just luxury adornments that the priest added to this peculiar place of worship. At its entrance, Sournier installed the chilling figure of Asmodius, a demon, its face contorted as
if ready to inflict agony on any unsuspecting foe. This unusual choice for a church is also accompanied by the foreboding inscription terribilis est locus estate, which translates to this
place is terrible in English. These ominous garnishes have led some to believe that the many symbols and details placed in the church by Sournier might actually contain hidden coats and naturally, as the priest continued to entertain lavishly with fine wines and finer food, but with no visible source of income, speculation about where it was all coming from exactly soon began to grow, and so it was that
in nineteen ten, the Bishoprick investigated and held Soornier to trial. Sornier, however, refused to attend, claiming suddenly that the money had simply been gifted to him by unknown benefactors, though he failed to produce any evidence attesting to this. The rumors continued to spread, however, and soon some began to speculate that he'd actually found a long lost, buried treasure hidden somewhere
in the depths of the church. It was also claimed that Soornier and his dutiful housekeeper Marie de Narnaud were witnessed digging in the church's cemetery at night, leading to allegations that they were in fact grave Robert and stealing from the dead. However, if the answers were to be found, they would not come from the man himself, who took his secrets to the grave when he died in nineteen seventeen.
What makes a Murderer's Mind tick? Killer Psyche is a true crime podcast from Wandry that explores these types of questions about the crimes that killers and criminals commit. Killer Psyche covers high profile cases that shocked the world, and host Candice DeLong uses her five decades of experience as a clinical psychiatric nurse and FBI criminal profiler to dissect the motivations and behaviors of the most terrifying felons in history.
And you'll definitely want to listen to a recent episode of Killer Psyche where Candice looks into the mysterious murder of Ted Ammon, a wealthy Wall Street financier. Ted had been going through a divorce with his wife of thirteen years, Generosa and child custody and millions in assets were at stake. Generosa and her new boyfriend Danny Pelosi were the prime suspects, but Generosa died of cancer before police could prove her involvement.
In twenty oh four, Danny was convicted of second degree murder, but still maintains his innocence. How does hatred drive a
person to murder the father of their children? Listen to Kill a Psyche on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or you can listen to one Week and Free by joining Wandry Plus in the Wandry app Few had heard of the Sonier mystery outside the region until the nineteen fifties, when a man named Noel Corbou bought the church estate from Sournier's housekeeper, Marie Denarnaud, who'd inherited it when he died.
Courbeu claims that Denarnaud teased him with numerous tales about the estate eight and Sonier's time there, even once telling him that she alone held the key secret to the vast treasure and promised to tell him all when the time was right, But then she suffered a seizure, rendering her, unable to communicate before she eventually died, taking her secrets to the grave too, and so Courbeu started to sow his own seats, telling stories to anyone who'd listened about
the wealth of Rein Le Chateau, hoping to generate interest in a new restaurant that he'd opened on the estate. He claimed that in eighteen ninety two, Sonier found a collection of parchments and other riches during a refurbishment of the church, which were in fact part of Blanche de Castile's treasure of the French crown. De Castile was once Queen Consort of France by marriage to Louis the eighth, and his bounty was said to have been concealed at
Rein les Otto. When King Louis was captured during the Crusades. Coorbou insisted that the parchments contained coded secrets that would cause unimaginable damage to the Catholic Church. Over the next ten years, Corbu's tales began to take root, evolving and growing with every new utterance, before eventually reaching a man named Pierre Plantart, renowned for his claims to be a direct descendant of the ancient French Merovingian dynasty, believed by
some to be the true heirs of France. Plantart founded the Priory of Scion in nineteen fifty six, claiming his male led religious order was just the latest evolution of a secret society formed on Mount Zion in Jerusalem in
ten ninety nine. The organization has claimed to have once counted Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton among its members, and was also intertwined with myths relating to the Knights temp All the while, as the story began to gain media attention, Plantart, along with select friends, continued to interweave stories of Rein le Chateau's loot with the mythology of his own Priory of Scion, hoping to further his fanciful claim that, as an apparent mere of Indian descendant, he
was in fact heir to the French throne. Plantart even succeeded in forging the parchments that Sonnier is said to have found and had them placed in the French National Library, before the hoax was eventually discovered and the parchments removed when his accomplice admitted to assisting in the forgery. Despite being generally debunked in later years, the idea of the Priory of Scion and its convoluted tales of pure bloodlines continues to generate great excitement, also inevitably fueling a string
of elaborate conspiracy theories. Over time, the story of the merrow Vingian dynasty became confused to even blending with a supposed lineage that goes all the way back to Jesus Christ, and soon came the idea that the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant were also part of the treasure hall at Reine le Chateau. As Dante once famously said, from a little spark may burst a mighty flame. If you recognize the priest's name at the heart of this story, it's likely you two are one of the millions of
people who've read the Da Vinci Code. Indeed, this real life priest inspired the fictional character Jacques Sonier found in Dan Brown's story, a dark figure who works as the curator of the Louver and his head of the secret Priory of Scion. Today, it is almost impossible to deduce the real truth about Rein le Chateau, with many claiming it to be a place of great mystical energy, regardless
of what you believe either way. Over a short period of time, this tale has transformed a sleepy village into a heartland of genealogical secrets and prophesized wealth. And with the story becoming so twisted and confused, its simple reality will never satisfy the ardent fortune seekers and conspiracy theorists who want it to be so much more. Ultimately, what rein Le Chateau shows us is even the world's biggest hoaxes cannot shake the thrill of the chase. This episode
was written by myself and Donna McKay smith. If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can now do so via Patreon. To receive access to add three episodes, just go to patron dot com forward slash Unexplained Pod to sign up. Unexplained, the book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among other bookstores.
All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward slash Unexplained Podcast