The famous Vermilion safe locked away for an estimated 40 year period, with a history of numerous unsuccessful attempts to unlock, inclusive of attempts by a locksmith as well as the original safe manufacturer, after which it was donated to Vermilion Museum.

‘Skilled man’; Stephen Mills, as we can now call him still insists he didn’t necessarily have a strategy up there when he decided to attempt he seemingly impossible.

In his own words:

“I just took the numbers out of thin air and said OK let’s do 20, 60, 40. Just like a typical combination lock, three times to the right, two times to the left, and sure enough spun the handle and it cracked open. ” he told Global News in an interview.

Being a regular camper, Mills, his wife and two kids decided to make good use of the Victoria Day long weekend. And tagging along was his brother-in-law; and a good google search introduced them to Vermilion Museum.

It can be recalled that 36 year old Mills had joked about how the safe had been locked longer than his entire life, when his tour guide introduced the group to the old safe.

It turns out the safe held no more than a couple of receipts, a waitress pad and an old Cheque, but these champs were not about to let this reality dampen the joy of this ‘conquer’.

It will interest one that this exciting story, having been originally published by the Vermilion Standard, has so far been picked up by outlets around the world including CNN, The Washington Post and The Guardian in London; but nothing compares to the fact that the president of the museum’s board of directors, Jean Murie, just on Thursday evening confirmed that the museum was no longer at risk of closing down, because the newfound publicity gave the heritage structure more than just a boost.