Short answers, pulled from the story.
Byron Preiss (the 11th of April 1953 - the 9th of July 2005) was an American writer, editor, and publisher based in Brooklyn, New York. He founded Byron Preiss Visual Publications in 1974 and later ibooks Inc., producing graphic novels, illustrated books, children's books, and pioneering digital publishing formats including CD-ROM books and ebooks.
The Secret is a 1982 puzzle book by Byron Preiss featuring twelve short verses and twelve fantasy paintings by John Jude Palencar. Readers who correctly matched verses to paintings received clues to the locations of twelve buried plexiglass boxes across North America, each containing a key redeemable for a jewel worth $1,000. Only three boxes have been found: in Chicago (1983), Cleveland (2004), and Boston (October 2019).
No. As of the information available, only three of the twelve buried boxes from The Secret have been recovered: one in Chicago in 1983, one in Cleveland in 2004, and one in Boston in October 2019. The remaining nine boxes have not been found, and Preiss was reportedly the only person who knew their locations when he died in 2005.
Byron Preiss died on the 9th of July 2005 in a traffic accident in East Hampton, New York. He was turning left onto Montauk Highway when his vehicle collided with a Hampton Jitney bus traveling at or around 30 miles per hour. The airbag did not work and Preiss died almost instantly. He was fifty-two years old.
Preiss edited the audiobook The Words of Gandhi, released by Caedmon in 1984 and narrated by Ben Kingsley. Kingsley won a Grammy Award in the category of Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording for that recording.
Both Byron Preiss Visual Publications and ibooks Inc. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on the 22nd of February 2006, approximately seven months after Preiss died in July 2005.