‘Real Indiana Jones’ explorer dies at age 80

RENO, Nev. – Douglas Eugene “Gene” Savoy, an explorer who discovered more than 40 lost cities in Peru and led long-distance sailing adventures to learn more about ancient cultures, has died. He was 80.

Savoy, who was originally from Bellingham, died of natural causes Tuesday at his Reno home, his family said Saturday.

Dubbed the “real Indiana Jones” by People magazine, Savoy was credited with finding four of Peru’s most important archaeological sites, including Vilcabamba, the last refuge of the Incas from the Spanish Conquistadors.

Hiram Bingham considered Machu Picchu the Inca’s last stronghold after he discovered it in 1911 in the Peruvian Andes. But scientists agree the lost city’s actual discovery was made by Savoy in the mid-1960s in the Peruvian rainforest.

In the next 40 years in the jungles of Peru, Savoy discovered more than 40 stone cities of a mysterious pre-Inca civilization known as the Chachapoyas. Among them were Gran Pajaten, Gran Vilaya and Gran Saposoa.

Savoy also took to the sea to test his theories that the Incas, Aztecs and other ancient civilizations had contact with each other. From 1977 to 1982, he used a 60-foot schooner to research possible trade routes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.