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On the trail of the czar’s crown jewels

The Hancock Park home of Patte Barham resembles a museum and contains memorabilia and correspondence from newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and Hearst's mistress, Marion Davies. A scion of a pioneering Los Angeles family, Barham has led a life of adventure among the wealthy and elite --- and claims to have seen a map that shows the location where the treasure of the last royal rulers of Russia is buried.

The Hancock Park home of Patte Barham resembles a museum and contains memorabilia and correspondence from newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and Hearst’s mistress, Marion Davies. A scion of a pioneering Los Angeles family, Barham has led a life of adventure among the wealthy and elite --- and claims to have seen a map that shows the location where the treasure of the last royal rulers of Russia is buried.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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She’s navigated the world of Los Angeles’ elite for eight decades -- weekending at Hearst Castle at San Simeon with William Randolph Hearst , riding horses with friends at her family ranch above the boulevard that bears her father’s name, partying at posh gatherings from Newport Beach to Beverly Hills. She is also been a war correspondent who filed reports from Korea’s infamous Pork Chop Hill and is co-author of investigative books about the controversial deaths of Marilyn Monroe and legendary Russian “mad monk” Grigori Rasputin. Now Patte Barham says she’s ready for the biggest challenge of her life: uncovering the lost crown jewels of the czar of Russia.

Patte Barham close-up

Patte Barham claims to have seen a map that shows the location where the lost treasure of the Romanovs -- the last royal rulers of Russia -- is buried. Barham said her stepfather, a deposed Russian prince, gave her the map and said the treasure includes jewels and priceless artifiacts from the last days of the czar and his doomed family.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Chris Harris

Chris Harris, a Beverly Hills public relations consultant, looks at the elaborate furnishings and decor in the Hancock Park home of Patte Barham. Harris remains confident that the Russian crown jewels are still buried beneath the Gobi Desert.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Patte Barham mansion

Chris Harris inside Barham’s Hancock park home. About Barham’s claim that the Russian crown jewels are buried beneath the sands of the Gobi, he says: “There’s no doubt whatsoever it’s there. I’ve talked to people who know what happened back then. This is not a Hollywood story. This is real history.”  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Map of Mongolia

Shortly before his death in 1960, Patte Barham says her stepfather handed her a envelope containing a map that showed exactly where the Russian royal treasure is hidden. Embittered to the end by the royal family’s execution, he asked that she not do anything until the Russian government recognized the Romanovs with a state funeral. That occurred in 1998. But soon after, the hand-drawn map mysteriously disappeared  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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