Video 4 - The Peralta Stone Maps with Frank Augustine

[gollum]

Joe,

The whole cancer cure thing also happened twenty years after the Stone Crosses. A lot can happen in a person's life in twenty years.

I don't know why everybody thinks that because a person finds treasure maps, stone maps, etc, that they should all be altruistic. If I found them, I would try and figure them out over the course of a few years. If I needed money, I would make copies of what I found, then see how much I could sell them for. The ONLY thing that his attempts to sell them does, is make a hoax seem a bit more likely than someone who kept them a secret and tried to figure them out. OH YEAH! That's what Travis Tumlinson did! He kept them pretty much a secret from 1949 until his death in 1961.

Mike

 

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[deducer]

Thanks Deducer,

I can't find anything about it on either Ancestry or Newspapers.com.

Let's also keep in mind that I found another Michael Kent Bilbrey (born in 1971):

This would 99% have been Michael K Bilbrey's Son. But because the article in the NCAF says that "Michael Bilbrey, 44 of Chandler, Az". THAT would have definately been our Michael Bilbrey, because he was born in 1950 (so in 1995, he would have been 44).

Per article below, Michael K. Bilbrey was 32 in 1983 which has pretty much the same birth date as someone who is 44 years old in 1995, so likely the same.



I tracked him down to his last known living address using property tax records available at city hall, to a run-down trailer on N. Kit Carson Dr. in Casa Grande:



The issue was that there was another "mailing address" which I tracked down in the east part of Casa Grande, to what turned out to be an assisted living facility and that confused me until I was told that both he and Cheryl had lived out the rest of their lives there.

I have no further leads or clues as their daughters have not responded to any of my requests.

I suspect that he didn't end up with possession of the Stone Crosses, but that they still remain in a locked up vault in LA, courtesy of Ed Farr after the partnership dissolved over a dispute (likely money).

Mike, this would be up your alley.

There is also a third and larger cross that they were trying to get at, at the time the article was published. No idea if they were successful.

 

[deducer]

deducer,

I don't feel the need to explain my thoughts to someone who uses a fictitious name to make anonymous attacks on me or others.

If people want to follow someone like Bilbrey, it's their choice.

I believe I have given a lot to the Dutch Hunting Community. Got nothing left.

Good luck,

Joe

Joe,

You seem fixated on the fact that since Bilbrey sold a cancer quack cure, everything associated with him is immediately suspect.

I do understand that you have very strong feelings as far as elderly people being mistreated, and in fact I feel the same way.

However, you did not prove that he specifically targeted elderly people as you seem to insinuate he did, and neither did you present proof that he knowingly did so.

Also to clarify, there were four people involved in the discovery of the Stone Crosses, and not just Bilbrey. Also, for example, Ed Farr was a senior electro-mechanical designer and Bilbrey was a computer maintenance technician.

Does that sound like a bunch of con artists to you?

 

[cactusjumper]

Joe,

You seem fixated on the fact that since Bilbrey sold a cancer quack cure, everything associated with him is immediately suspect.

I do understand that you have very strong feelings as far as elderly people being mistreated, and in fact I feel the same way.

However, you did not prove that he specifically targeted elderly people as you seem to insinuate he did, and neither did you present proof that he knowingly did so.

Also to clarify, there were four people involved in the discovery of the Stone Crosses, and not just Bilbrey. Also, for example, Ed Farr was a senior electro-mechanical designer and Bilbrey was a computer maintenance technician.

Does that sound like a bunch of con artists to you?

deducer,

Why yes........it does.

Good luck,

Joe Ribaudo

 

[cw0909]

a case archive for Michael Kent Bilbrey B1950
http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.g.../archivecaseInfo.asp?caseNumber=CR1995-002601

sometimes direct links dont work
step one, click on case history
2 last name
3 at bottom of list click case archives
http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/docket/CriminalCourtCases/

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

llo Joe, funny thing the Cranberry extract has been found effacious in certain types of cancer.

 

[Old]

Here's an article with a few more details. Also, following the article is the Arizona prison records. Mike, I think the reason you might have had difficulty find this is that the prison records have an incorrect birth date.

Article text: A magic elixir sold by Michael Kent Bilbrey in 1995. He promoted the potion as an effective remedy for cancer. Aging attorneys and bankers with cancer spent $50,000 to buy doses of the cure. Bilbrey’s Treatment was nothing more than a concoction of cranberry juice, salt, and other common ingredients. There was no basis in medicine or science to support any cure. Patients eventually died of cancer. Bilbrey even tried romancing a daughter of a sickly father in Chandler, Arizona, when other family members became skeptical of the potion. This divided family loyalties while he continued to sell the potion. In 1991, Bilbrey fraudulently promoted another wonder cure, Trizone. He claimed Trizone would cleanse people’s blood of the virus that causes AIDS.

Prison Record:

 

[DiggerGal]

When it comes to Bilbrey, Mike is right, very limited info available besides Ancestry and the AZ clipping of his sentencing.
Let's just bounce this around a bit;
Bilbrey, a computer technician finds (or is in a party of individuals) that find the stone crosses. Making an assumption that he is employed at the time without financial hardship, he starts his quest of discovery.
During the time of his searches, he ascertains partnership with Farr and 2 others. At some point (in a logical transition) Bilbrey feels close to discovery and needs to infuse cash into the partnership to remain. Does he turn to deception out of desperation? Or, does his past present cause to believe he was always deceptive?

 

[azdave35]

deducer,

Why yes........it does.

Good luck,

Joe Ribaudo

con men come in all shapes and sizes...both blue and white collar

 

[Oroblanco]

When it comes to Bilbrey, Mike is right, very limited info available besides Ancestry and the AZ clipping of his sentencing.
Let's just bounce this around a bit;
Bilbrey, a computer technician finds (or is in a party of individuals) that find the stone crosses. Making an assumption that he is employed at the time without financial hardship, he starts his quest of discovery.
During the time of his searches, he ascertains partnership with Farr and 2 others. At some point (in a logical transition) Bilbrey feels close to discovery and needs to infuse cash into the partnership to remain. Does he turn to deception out of desperation? Or, does his past present cause to believe he was always deceptive?

NOT to speak for everyone here, however I am in agreement with Cactusjumper Joe on this one; the kind of person that would do something as low as what Bilbrey was convicted of doing, should not be trusted on other things especially where monetary gain is involved. The fact that he tried to sell the stones may not mean anything, or it may have meant that he wanted a new car and needed a pigeon to pay for it. Bilbrey had his own mining claim kind of SE of Tortilla ranch, and according to the Forest Service we were told that it had enough gold to warrant someone working on it, but nothing to get excited about either.

As with any treasure map, the true test is in the use of it to try to find treasures or mines. Has anyone had any luck in using the Latin heart or the stone crosses? I have not ever heard of any success from them. Treasure maps are fairly numerous, and most have a very dim record of success. I can't say all but can count the successes on one hand, out of dozens. To anyone who wishes to use the Latin Heart and/or stone crosses to search, I wish them good luck, and be sure to keep us posted with your finds.

I thought I had heard that Bilbrey smashed the Latin heart after he could not sell it? Was that incorrect?

Please do continue;

 

[deducer]

deducer,

Why yes........it does.

Good luck,

Joe Ribaudo

If you want to be facetious, that's your choice, Joe.

Still no grounds to accuse him of anything other than what the court formally charged him with.

And no grounds to suspect the Stone Crosses of being a fabrication.

 

[DiggerGal]

Here's an article with a few more details. Also, following the article is the Arizona prison records. Mike, I think the reason you might have had difficulty find this is that the prison records have an incorrect birth date.

Article text: A magic elixir sold by Michael Kent Bilbrey in 1995. He promoted the potion as an effective remedy for cancer. Aging attorneys and bankers with cancer spent $50,000 to buy doses of the cure. Bilbrey’s Treatment was nothing more than a concoction of cranberry juice, salt, and other common ingredients. There was no basis in medicine or science to support any cure. Patients eventually died of cancer. Bilbrey even tried romancing a daughter of a sickly father in Chandler, Arizona, when other family members became skeptical of the potion. This divided family loyalties while he continued to sell the potion. In 1991, Bilbrey fraudulently promoted another wonder cure, Trizone. He claimed Trizone would cleanse people’s blood of the virus that causes AIDS.

Prison Record:

View attachment 1185737

Lynda,
Amazing research! I need tips and lessons from you!
Is Bilbrey now deceased? Born in 1960, he would be 54 today. Very young.

 

[Old]

Tina,

I think that 1960 date on the prison record is wrong. Should have been 1950. Still young <g> to my way of thinking.

I believe he has passed. 2012 ish maybe. Others may know that better than I.

 

[Hal Croves]

deducer,

I don't feel the need to explain my thoughts to someone who uses a fictitious name to make anonymous attacks on me or others.

If people want to follow someone like Bilbrey, it's their choice.

I believe I have given a lot to the Dutch Hunting Community. Got nothing left.

Good luck,

Joe

Encouragement, direction, honesty, constructive criticism, respect, memories, and occasionally even friendship. I don't believe that it's time to put you out to pasture just yet old man.

 

[Oroblanco]

Encouragement, direction, honesty, constructive criticism, respect, memories, and occasionally even friendship. I don't believe that it's time to put you out to pasture just yet old man.

I have to respectfully AGREE with you on this one Hal - Cactusjumper Joe might be a bit too straightforward for some and can be a bit blunt, but you always know where you stand with him, and don't let him know I said this but I suspect that on the inside he is really a nice guy. If he seems a bit 'crusty' at times, after having to deal with some really nasty people over the years it could make anyone a little less friendly. I keep hoping we can coax him into telling the whole story on the cave of gold bars, of Harry LaFrance.

Please do continue amigos,



PS I will be absent from class for a night or two, nothing wrong at this end just out digging for gold, maybe even finding Standoff Bar.

 

[markmar]

Not the case at all. You are reaching big time. The aerial shots are not anything of significance.

Depend to what hole are you looking .

 

[deducer]

con men come in all shapes and sizes...both blue and white collar

Quite unlikely, though, that a group of four people, two with lucrative jobs, should band and form a conspiracy to sell two or more fabricated Stone Crosses, with misspelled Spanish.

Why would Bilbrey then move from San Diego to be closer to the Superstitions (he ended up in Casa Grande) just to perpetuate a hoax?

And furthermore how did they know to craft the crosses with asymmetrical arms, when we never see the back of the upper trail stone in the 1964 Life Magazine article which Bilbrey reportedly consulted before setting out on his journey?

And why should Bilbrey and Farr then pretend to have internal strife or dispute resulting in the breakup of the group and the locking up of the Stone Crosses in a vault, never to be seen again? In what way does this enhance or make more valuable, the "selling" point of the hoax or the Stone Crosses?

These are facts that Joe and others chose to ignore.

Possessing a great deal of information does not make you an expert in anything without the faculty to remain objective, to avoid making judgment or forcing facts to fit a preconceived theory. More important, I think, is the willingness to be flexible in the face of new evidence.

 

[cactusjumper]

Quite unlikely, though, that a group of four people, two with lucrative jobs, should band and form a conspiracy to sell two or more fabricated Stone Crosses, with misspelled Spanish.

Why would Bilbrey then move from San Diego to be closer to the Superstitions (he ended up in Casa Grande) just to perpetuate a hoax?

And furthermore how did they know to craft the crosses with asymmetrical arms, when we never see the back of the upper trail stone in the 1964 Life Magazine article which Bilbrey reportedly consulted before setting out on his journey?

And why should Bilbrey and Farr then pretend to have internal strife or dispute resulting in the breakup of the group and the locking up of the Stone Crosses in a vault, never to be seen again? In what way does this enhance or make more valuable, the "selling" point of the hoax or the Stone Crosses?

These are facts that Joe and others chose to ignore.

Possessing a great deal of information does not make you an expert in anything without the faculty to remain objective, to avoid making judgment or forcing facts to fit a preconceived theory. More important, I think, is the willingness to be flexible in the face of new evidence.

deducer,

I have not ignored any "facts". You have always assumed facts in my posts that were never stated. I have always tried to dig out the true history of the legends that surround the LDM and the Superstition Mountains. That does not set well with many in the community who want to preserve the accepted false history that is being concocted on a daily basis.

The true story of such artifacts as the Stone Maps is just now coming into the daylight. That truth does not include them having been part of the flooring of a church. That fact may have some effect on the book(s) that have been, or are being written by those who have made up their own history.

The Alkire story will no longer be an addition to any new books on the LDM. Without my, and a few friends research, that truth would probably never been revealed. It's just history, and history bites.

If you doubt my posts, or the truth that is in them, stop reading them. Do not presume to know what "facts" I choose to ignore.

Joe Ribaudo

 

[Hal Croves]

deducer,

I have not ignored any "facts". You have always assumed facts in my posts that were never stated. I have always tried to dig out the true history of the legends that surround the LDM and the Superstition Mountains. That does not set well with many in the community who want to preserve the accepted false history that is being concocted on a daily basis.

The true story of such artifacts as the Stone Maps is just now coming into the daylight. That truth does not include them having been part of the flooring of a church. That fact may have some effect on the book(s) that have been, or are being written by those who have made up their own history.

The Alkire story will no longer be an addition to any new books on the LDM. Without my, and a few friends research, that truth would probably never been revealed. It's just history, and history bites.

If you doubt my posts, or the truth that is in them, stop reading them. Do not presume to know what "facts" I choose to ignore.

Joe Ribaudo

You have my attention.
Which true story?

 

[cactusjumper]

You have my attention.
Which true story?

Hal,

Which one has your attention?

Good luck,

Joe