02/19/2021
Three Lakes And The Curse Of Montezuma’s Treasure
In The Age Of The Internet It's Easy For People To Find All Kinds Of Stories About Lost Treasure. Many Have Stumbled Across The Story Of Brandt Child And The Cursed Three Lakes In Kanab Utah That May Hold The Lost Treasure Of Montezuma.
Back In The Early 80’s Nobody Had The Internet To Find Or Offer Up Any New Clues On Finding Lost Treasure. You Would Of Had To Be Deep In Researching At Library’s, Universities, Or Corresponding With Foreign Governments And Their Archives. If You Were Serious You Would Read All The Treasure Magazines You Could Find On The Subject And Start Writing Letters To Those Who May Hold Some Tiny Bit Of Information That You Were Trying To Piece Together. Very Few Were Lucky Enough Like Brandt Child To Hear About Montezuma’s Treasure Firsthand From A Close Friend. That Friend Just Happen To Be Working With A Treasure Hunter Who Had Just Proved He Had Valuable Verifiable Information Because He Had Just Unearthed Ancient Ruins On The Judd Family Ranch.
Brandt Child Was Close Friends With Vaughn Judd, (The Local Johnson Canyon Ranch Owner) Who Was Working With My Grandfather, Raymond Dillman (An Almost Mystical Treasure Hunter) Who Had Just Pinpointed The Locations Of Ancient Aztec Ruins And Artifacts On The Ranch Owners Property. Mr. Judd Said My Grandfather Knew Things In Such Detail That “It Was Like He Had Put Them There Himself.” So When Word Spread About The Discoveries Being Made On The Judd Ranch, Brandt Child Wanted To See It For Himself. Brandt Was Instantly Hooked And Drawn To Learn All That He Could About Montezuma’s Treasure And Any Information That Mr. Judd Had Or Could Share With Him. Mrs. Judd Had Told Me During One Of Our Interviews That Her And Mr. Judd Began Sharing Information With Brandt. This Information Included, Photos, Drawings, And Some Exclusive New Information Told To The Judd’s By My Grandfather, Raymond Dillman.
They Began Telling Brandt About Another Location Near By That Could Be The Hiding Place Holding A Portion Of The Aztecs Lost Treasure Of Montezuma. My Grandfather Had Pointed To Three Petroglyph Circles That My Uncles Had Found On The Judd Ranch And They Took A Picture And Brought It To My Grandfather To See. My Grandfather Told My Uncles And The Judd’s That These Signs Interpreted Meant That There Were Three Lakes Or Pools Of Water Nearby That May Hold A Portion Of The Treasure. The Aztecs, Inca And Maya Would Use A Cenote Or Lake To Cover And Hide The Entrance To Caves And Caverns Where They Would Store Their Treasure.
Brandt Apparently Happen To Believe That He Knew Exactly Where That Three Lake Location Was And He Made His Bet By Buying That Property As Quickly As He Could And Moved To Kanab To Begin His Search For The Treasure Of Montezuma.
Brandt Thought The First Thing He Should Do Was Drain The Lake Which Made Complete Sense. It Would Be The Quickest And Easiest Way To Get Into That Entrance. Brandt Ran Into Immediate Opposition From The Kanab Canyon Residents Who Feared Their Culinary And Agricultural Water Supply Would Be Jeopardized Because Three Lakes And Kanab Canyon Share The Same Water Source. After Being Advised By The State Engineer's Office, Kanab Canyon Residents Said They Would Seek Appropriate Damages If Draining The Pond Had Any Adverse Impact On Them. So Brandt, After Carefully Planning On How He Could Drain The Lake Without Causing Any Damage Would Begin Moving Forward With His Modified Plans.
But As Luck Would Have It The Lake Happen To Be The Home Of The Golden Snail Or The Amber Snail That Was Recently Put On The Endangered Species List. When Word Got Out About What Brandt Was Planning To Do To The Lake, He Was Quickly Paid A Visit By The Local Authorities, Putting Him On Notice That It Would Be Illegal To Drain The Lake And Harm Any Amber Snails. Each Harmed Snail Would Come With A $50,000 Fine Per Injured Snail.
Brandt Was Initially Perplexed By The New Revelations, Because He Was Not Able To Do Whatever He Wanted To On His Own Property. His Whole Reason For Buying This Property Was To Unearth The Treasure And Now A Golden Snail Was Stopping Him. As He Did A Little More Research On The Snails He Came Across Some Information That The Aztecs Held The Golden Snails As Sacred Protectors. He Began To Realize That This Could Be The Curse Of The Treasure That He Had Heard About. Brandt Shrugged Off The Thoughts And Went To Planning His Next Move. Mysteriously A Family Of Geese Made The Lake Their Home And They Seemed To Find The Snails A Tasty Delight. When Word Got Out That There Were Geese The Local Authorities Were Called Out Again And Were Asked To Shoot The Geese If They Were Observed Eating Any Of The Snails. Brandt Claimed To Have No Part Of The Geese Arriving Publicly, But Privately One May Have Caught A Wink Or Two Coming From Brandt When The Conversation Would Arise. Eventually The Dispute Between Conservationist, The US Fish And Wildlife, And Brandt Child Was Settled, There Would Be No Draining Of The Lake.
Brandt Plotted Out His Next Best Course Of Action To Get The Treasure. He Decided To Hire Some Divers To See If They Could Find The Entrance To The Cave And Pull The Gold Out One Bar Or Artifact At A Time. Brandt Hired Some Local Divers Who Were Confident That This Job Was A Walk In The Park And If There Was An Entrance They Would Find It And Bring Up That Gold.
The Divers Arrived And Began Their Process And Preparation For The Dive. Once Ready, They Entered The Lake But To Their Dismay They Were Met With Some Unusual Experiences. All The Divers Began Struggling To Breath And Came Up Immediately Confused On How Their Air Could Just Stop. Apparently The Air Compressors Were Shutting Off, Which Didn’t Make Any Sense As They Had Just Tested All The Equipment Extensively The Night Before. The Divers Fixed The Compressor Problem And They All Began There Dive Into The Lake Again. Soon After Their Compressors Were Now Running But Would Not Fill Their Tanks With Air Properly, So They Had To Quit For The Day And They Planned To Come Back The Next Day.
The Second Time The Divers Arrived They Came With Metal Detectors, Sonar Equipment, And Intercoms To Communicate Underwater, Dry Suits And Everything They Believed They Could Possibly Need To Dive This Lake And Find The Gold. They Were Completely Prepared For Whatever Situation That Could Arise. Brandt Would Be Up On Top Of The Lake In His Boat To Help Them With Whatever They May Need.
Using The Sonar They Were Able To Confirm What Appeared To Be A Cavern In The Shape Of A Bevers Lodge But Brandt Believed It To Be Man Made. Then Using The Underwater Metal Detectors They Registered Large Deposits Of Gold And Silver. Brandt Is Quoted As Saying “I Think That We Are Talking About Something Enormous Here When You Consider There Were At Least 2000 Aztec Warriors Carrying 50 Pounds Of Gold And Silver Each.”
This Time The Divers Were Successful In Finding The Entrance To The Tunnel. Brandt Says They Came Across A Few Booby Traps In The Tunnel Leading To The Cavern. The Divers Claimed To Be In The Tunnel 20 To 30 Feet And Made It Into The Cavern. They Needed To Extend Their Umbilical Cord That Provided Air, But When They Went To Get The Adapter They Could Not Find The Connectors Anywhere. They Were Confident That They Had Brought Them, So They Were Forced To Quit For The Day.
Brandt Was Quoted As Saying, “I Was Not Surprised When The Tunnel And Cavern Actually Materialized Since It Was A Common Practice For Aztecs To Use A Water Trap To Secure Their Treasure In The Homeland. It Would Have Been Easy For Them To Drain The Pond, Bury The Treasure, And Then Allow It To Fill Up Again. Child Reasoned They Knew It Would Be Hard To Find That Way But Even If It Were Found The Treasure Would Be Too Darn Heavy To Recover.”
The Third Time The Divers Arrived They Came With Two Or Three Of Everything They Could Possibly Need And They Made It Clear To Brandt That They No Longer Wanted To Be Paid For Their Services But Wanted To Be Partners In Whatever They Found 50/50. Brandt Recalls Being A Little Caught Off Guard But Agreed And Signed The Contract Saying If They Pulled The Gold Out Of The Lake, They Would Share In The Riches Equally.
I Would Say That A Little Bit Of Greed Had Crept Into The Divers Hearts And Minds To Make Such A Demand Of Brandt. My Uncle Paul Dillman Would Always Make A Point To Tell Everyone That We Would Allow To Come With Us On Any Of Our Treasure Hunting Adventures “If You Have Any Greed In Your Heart You May Not Make It Home, This Treasure Is Sacred And Not Meant For One Man Or One Family So Your Heart And Head Better Be Screwed On Right, Because This Is Serious Business And You Will Die.”
So, The First Diver Went In For The Third Time And Once He Got Back Into The Entrance Of The Tunnel He Began Screaming And Crying Through The Intercom To Get Him Out Of The Water. Brandt And The Others Began Pulling The Diver To The Surface, The Diver Was Hysterical, Frightened And Speaking Gibberish So They Thought That The Diver Might Have Gotten Nitrogen Narcosis Poisoning. The Remaining Divers Were Still Set On Getting To That Gold And The Next Diver Entered The Water. Immediately The Diver Began Screaming That There Was Someone Choking Him And That They Were Going To Kill Him, Screaming That He Was Surrounded By Strange Ghostly Beings And To Get Him Out Of The Water Now! The Third Diver Had The Same Experience And All Of Them Packed Up And Left Making It Clear To Brandt He Didn’t Owe Them Anything And They Never Will Dive That Lake Again.
Brandt At This Point Must Have Been Really Questioning What Was Going On. I Know He Was A Spiritual Man, A Believer In God, And He Was An Elder In The Mormon Church And Definitely Knew The Legends Of The Curse Of Montezuma’s Treasure. He May Have Even Possibly Felt He Was The Chosen One, So He Continued With His Pursuit.
In The Early 2000s I Met Up With Lon Child (One Of Brandt Child’s Son’s) Who Was Most Active With His Dad On The Quest For The Treasure And We Began Discussing The Treasure And All The Ways That His Father Had Attempted To Access The Treasure. Lon Shared Brandt’s Next Plan Which Was To Drill From The Top Of The Lake And Just Pull The Treasure Out From The Top. Brandt And Lon Began Searching For A Driller Who Could Come To The Property And Dig The Hole Into The Cavern So They Would Be Able To Drop A Camera Down It To See If He Could See Anything. They Were Eventually Successful In Finding A Husband And Wife Drilling Team Who Would Come To The Property And Drill The Hole For Brandt And Lon. The Driller Got All Of His Drill Equipment On The Property And Picked Out The Location That They Wanted To Drill. As The Driller Penetrated Into The Cavern He Immediately Said He Noticed Some Strange Smell That Came Out Of The Hole. Once The Drill Bit Was Lifted Out Of The Hole, Lon Told Me That He And Brandt Saw Gold On The End Of The Drill Bit. They Were Really Excited Now So They Lowered The Camera Into The Hole And Brandt Said That He Could See Golden Statues And Other Items Inside The Cavern. With All Of This New Information They Then Wanted The Driller To Drill A Large Enough Hole So That They Could Lower Themselves Down Into The Cavern And Start Retrieving This Treasure. The Driller Agreed That He Would Absolutely Do The Job For Them, They Negotiated Their Price And Sealed The Deal.
The Driller Began Drilling A 4-Foot Hole And The Drill Bit Broke Off Deep Within The Hole That They Had Begun Digging. They Then Needed To Plan Another Date Within The Next Few Weeks When The Driller Could Come Back With The Replacement Drill Bits And Dig That Big Hole. That Night Brandt Was In Complete Shock To Find Out That The Driller Died When He Got Home. The Wife Had Called Brandt And Told Him What Had Happened, This Was Frightening To The Child Family Because Up To This Point No One Had Been Hurt. They Had Experienced Many Strange And Unfortunate Events While They Were Trying To Access The Treasure But How Could This Be Explained Away. The Driller Was Dead And A Few Weeks Later He Received News That The Wife Had Mysteriously Died As Well. Brandt Had This Overwhelming Feeling Come Over Him That This May Be The Curse Of Montezuma’s Treasure. Now Reflecting On All The Opposition That He Had Encountered During His Quest For Unearthing This Treasure, He Was Beginning To Convince Himself That It Was The Curse Of The Treasure And He Would Not Pursue It Any Longer. Brandt Would Soon Discover A Reasonable Explanation To How The Driller Could Have Died When He Penetrated The Opening Of The Cave. Apparently When Gold Is Submerged In Water It Can Create A Poisonous Gas. This Could Have Been What The Driller Inhaled When He Made The Comment Of Smelling Something Awful Coming From The Freshly Drilled Hole.
Sometime Would Pass Before Brandt Thought About How He Might Gain Access To The Treasure Cave. Lon Had Been Running His Own Excavation Company And Thought That He And His Dad Could Bring One Of Their Large D-10 CATS Down To The Property And Just Excavate From The Top Of The Lake To The Bottom. This Was About 100-Feet, But Lon And Brandt Believed They Could Do It Successfully So They Began To Remove Large Portions Of The Sand Stone In A Circular Shape. After A Few Days Of Successful Excavating, On The Third Day They Went Out To Put In Another Days Work And The Engine Would Not Start. After Some Investigation They Would Discover That The Big D-10 CAT Was Sabotaged, Someone Had Filled The Gas Tank With Sand And Killed The Engine.
Lon Would Soon Have The Engine Rebuilt, But Who Could Have Done That To Them And Why? After The D-10 CAT Was Repaired, Brandt Was On The Property Alone And Just Getting The Cat Started Up When He Said An Old Native American Man Came Out From The Tules And Told Him To Stop Seeking The Treasure And That It Was Not Meant For Him, It Was Not Yet Time For It To Be Revealed And If Didn’t Stop His Search Immediately He Would Be Next To Suffer The Curse Of Montezuma.
Brandt Was Now Blown Away By This Experience And Put A Complete Stop To His And Lon’s Plans To Excavate To The Bottom Of The Lake. Lon Told Me That Brandt Was Giving Up On The Treasure But That He Would Create A Rv Park And Recreation Area For Tourist To Share The Love Of The Treasure And Its Legends With All Who Came To Town. A Few Years Had Passed, And Brandt Was Out On A Mission From The Church. He Had Spoken With Lon And Said While He Was On His Mission, That He Had One More Idea On How They Might Be Able To Get To The Treasure And Brandt Said He Would Tell Lon Once He Got Home, But As Fate Would Have It On Brandt’s Car Ride Home, As He Was Just Coming Down Highway 89 A Black Stallion Had Smashed Through His Cars Windshield Decapitating Him.
Brandt Child Was A Good Man, But He Was Warned Many Times. I Would Say He Was Given Many Chances To Abandon The Idea Of Getting The Treasure For Himself And Chose The Role That I Think He Missed Out On Playing, A Protector Of The Treasure Hidden There. Lon, My Uncles John And Paul Dillman, And Myself Dan Dillman Have All Worked Together On A Project At The Three Lakes Property. What We Discovered Verifies What My Grandfather And Brandt Child Suspected, Something Of Great Value Is Hidden In Those Mountains Of Kanab Utah And The Story Of Montezuma’s Treasure And Kane County Are Far From Over. We, The Dillman Family Documented And Filmed Our Complete Investigation At The Three Lakes And Plan To Release The Video Soon!
So, Like Many Others, You Have Probably Found That It’s Just A Simple Google Search On The Internet And You’ll Find Tons Of Information And Clues On Montezuma's Treasure And Where It Has Been Rumored To Reside. Most Who Have Searched The Subject Have Easily Discovered The Three Lakes Story And All The Crazy Unbelievable Mishaps And Deaths That Have Happened At The Three Lakes Property While The Owner Had Attempted To Unearth The Treasure Of Montezuma.
What You Didn’t Know And Didn’t Read About In All Those Other Reciting’s Of Three Lakes Stories Is, The Origin Of How Brandt Child Came To Even Think Or Believe That There Were Three Lakes In The Area That May Have Held The Treasure Of Montezuma. Well Now You Have Heard The Most Accurate Account Of The Three Lakes Saga With Exclusive First Hand Details. It Was Because Of Raymond Dillman And His Six Sense, Physic Ability Or Remote Viewing Capability Which Led Him To Tell The Judd Family About “Three Lakes” Nearby Which He Believed Held More Clues And A Portion Of The Aztec Treasure. Raymond Dillman Had A Unique Intimate Knowledge Of The Sacred Signs, Symbols And Locations Of The Aztec Treasure Of King Montezuma.
Lon Child, His Brothers And Their Immediate Family Were Forced To Sell The Three Lakes Property In 2016 After A Long Family Dispute Over The Inheritance Of The Property, With Brandt’s Step Children From His Second Marriage To Venice Child. Today The Three Lakes Property Is Owned By The Best Friend Animal Shelter And I Couldn’t Think Of A Better Protector Of The Treasure Than An Organization Who Has Dedicated Their Lives To Protecting The Sacred Life Of Animals Or Spirits As My Native American Ancestors Would Call Them.
Last Updated 02/19/2021
Copyright Dan Dillman For The Dillman Family 1964-2021