Treasure hunters are flocking to NYC in search of mammoth bones after a Joe Rogan podcast guest claimed a boxcar of them were dropped in the East River 80 years ago

• Treasure hunters are searching for mammoth tusks in New York City's East River.
• A gold miner on Joe Rogan's podcast claimed that thousands were dumped there between 1928 and 1958.

Treasure hunters are flocking to New York City's East River searching for mammoth tusks after a prominent fossils collector claimed millions of dollars worth of them dumped there almost a century ago.

"I'm going to start a bone rush," John Reeves, an Alaskan gold miner said during a December 30 episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience."

Reeves, reading what he said was a draft report from The American Museum of Natural History, said that thousands of mammoth tusks were dumped in between East River Drive and 65th Street between 1928 and 1958. The bones, he claimed on the podcast, were being sent to The American Museum of Natural History but were unfit to be displayed there.

"Let me tell you something about mammoth bones, mammoth tusks — they're extremely valuable," Reeves said.

PIX11 reported that several groups were hunting for the treasure, including Connor Rogers, who was captaining the Ronald P. Jensen survey vessel, which is equipped with $1 million worth of high-tech hydrographic devices.

"If it looks promising," Rogers said, of scans with the high-tech devices "we'll send a physical guy, a diver, down to put his hands on it."

Don Gann, a commercial driver who has been searching for the tusks for the past two weeks told The Associated Press: "I think the chances are just as good as the lottery. And people buy those tickets every day."

However, in a statement to The AP, The American Museum of Natural History disputed Reeves's claims were false.

"We do not have any record of the disposal of these fossils in the East River, nor have we been able to find any record of this report in the museum's archives or other scientific sources," the museum said.

The American Museum of Natural History did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.