Many have died on the Discovery Channel’s show, Gold Rush? Because the Gold Rush cast works with heavy equipment (on often unstable terrain), you would expect some deaths.
To date Jesse Goins, James Harness, John Schnabel, Jim Turin and more have passed away.
Given 14 seasons (to date), and eight spinoffs, it’s kind of incredible more people weren’t lost while filming.
Here’s a look at who passed away on the Discovery show, who nearly died, and one mystery that persists even now.
Who Died on Gold Rush: Dave Turin’s Lost Mine? – Jesse Goins Filming at Time of Death
According to Variety, one ore hunter who died while filming was the beloved Jesse Goins from Gold Rush:Dave Turin’s Lost Mine. He appeared on Seasons 1 – 3 as their gold room operator. The crew left the main franchise to explore previously abandoned mines.
Jesse’s job was to check the gold found and clean it. Season 3, Episode 7, Good Man Down, had the team working at Box Creek, Colorado.
On Gold Rush S3 E7, Jesse said he hoped to use his share of the gold to start a college fund for his grandson (Anthony’s son). Jesse was married to Rhenda Goins. They had three sons — Kevin Goins, Anthony Goins, and Josh Goins.
That episode saw Dave Turin calling “No Duff” (stop all work) on the radio with an order to rush to their closest muster point. He’d never issued a distress call before. The team waited and wondered what happened.
Later, after the ambulance left, Dave came up to tell the crew what happened. He said he found Jesse collapsed in the gold room and called for help. Then, he said despite CRP, “we never got nothing”.
Goins Declared Dead
Goins was declared dead at the hospital. Two days later, on Gold Rush, Dave told the team that the coroner confirmed it was a “massive heart attack” and said they lost a brother and a family member.
Jesse Goins was born February 23, 1960, and died August 18, 2020. His brother Larry Goins said his brother loved the guys from the show.” He said he was “grateful to Dave… and the guys for the love they showed him.”
The crew members said Jesse was the humblest, gentlest, person. And said, “he made our team”. Dave and the team declared it “Jesse’s season” and committed to giving his share of the gold to the Goins family.
James Harness Died – Gold Rush Mechanic on Hoffman Crew
Longtime watchers of the Discovery series recall James Harness was on the show from the start, according to OregonLive. The Hoffman crew had James with them as they worked Porcupine Creek in Alaska.
Everyone started pretty much broke, and James Harness hoped his share of the claim would help him afford back surgery. He suffered intense spinal pain from a car crash years earlier and it sometimes affected his ability to show up for work.
If you don’t remember, James was their “bush mechanic” on Gold Rush. He was a hard worker who often injured himself working on machinery. One cast member recounted that James Harness worked so hard sometimes that he couldn’t even move.
Despite his pain, he dove into cramped spaces to weld and worked through his pain. Three months after the mining season ended, Todd Hoffman called a team meeting to address why they missed their goals.
Several of the crew blamed him for mechanical downtime on Season 2, Episode 20, Revelations. Todd fired James. One positive outcome is that he came to the attention of a doctor. A Boston surgeon performed much-needed back surgery on James for free.
Harness Passes Away
Then, two years after that season aired, James Harness passed at age 57 from a stroke on June 28, 2014. When Todd Hoffman revealed James’ death in Gold Rush Season 5 Episode 8, Gold Blooded, he said the mechanic gave all he could to them.
And he said that after passing, at least James wasn’t in pain anymore. James Harness was born October 3, 1956 and died June 28, 2014.
Parker Schnabel’s Grandfather Passed – John Schnabel Died in 2016
A legend on the series, John Schnabel is the reason everyone knows Parker Schnabel’s name. In 1984, John bought the Porcupine Creek claim, AKA the Big Nugget Mine. And Parker spent childhood summers with his grandfather learning the trade.
In 2011, he stepped back and handed the reins to 16-year-old Parker, as chronicled on the Discovery channel series. He also worked the mine when Parker left to finish high school. John’s son, Roger Schnabel, is Parker’s dad.
Parker Schnabel later moved away to other claims and his granddad John resumed working it himself, coming out of retirement. One of John Schnabel’s claims to fame was finding 50 ounces in one day at his claim.
John Schnabel’s Heart Attack
In his obituary, Legacy.com says that while filming Gold Rush, John suffered a heart attack but pulled through it. Then, in 2013, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Season 4, Episode 19 aired that same year.
The episode Grandpa’s Last Wish showed Parker and brother Payson Schnabel working Smith Creek Hill with their grandfather. In Season 5, they aired a tribute episode for the legendary gold miner, Grandpa John.
In Season 6, Episode 2, Gold Ship, 94-year-old John Schnabel was rushed in for emergency heart surgery. This would be his third. Later, the show taped his final birthday party.
Back then, he gave grandson Parker the advice to find love — not just money. One month after turning 96, John Schnabel passed peacefully in his sleep
John was born on February 11, 1920, and died on March 18, 2016. He appeared on Gold Rush, the spinoff in South America, and after-show The Dirt.
Parker called his grandfather “a hero” and mentor. The elder Schnabel was known to say, “put on your boots and do something”. And he did that until the end.
Jim Turin from Gold Rush Dave Turin’s Lost Mine Passed Away
According to his obituary on Legacy, another patriarch lost while filming the Discovery channel show was Jim Turin — father of “Dozer Dave” Turin. He owned the quarry and also Mt Hood Rock which he ran with his family.
Jim appeared with his son Dave on several episodes of the reality show, including on Gold Rush S2 E7 in 2011 (Gold at Last)and also Gold Rush: Dave Turin’s Lost Mine S1 E8 (Dozer Dave Returns) in 2019 and S2 E4 (Gold Will Surrender) in 2020.
A Korean war vet, Jim Turin, returned home after serving and married Clara Stalp. They had six children, all with names starting with “D”. They married on October 26, 1955.
Jim’s children, with whom he ran the claim and family earth products business include Dan, Dennis, Dave, Doug, Debbie, and Doreen.
Jim Turin was born October 26, 1933, and passed on July 22, 2020, in Oregon at the age of 87. His obituary called Jim “a man of many stories and true integrity” as well as a “consummate learner and teacher”.
In Gold Rush Season 3, Episodes 2 and 3, the show paid tribute to Jim Turin in, Say a Prayer, and The Fifty Ounce Test.
Parker Schnabel Death Scare – Gold Rush Cameraman Sam Brown Feared the Worst
While filming his spinoff, Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail, Parker almost lost his life in a tragedy. While this is not death on the series, it was surely a close call that almost took a life.
Parke Schnabel and his crew were working at a steep gold mine in Papa New Guinea. They’d set up a reservoir dam on the side of a mountain. He was down the hillside working when danger struck from nowhere.
The dam burst and a massive rush of water swept Parker down the incline. In the footage below from his GoPro, you can see the velocity and intensity of the incident.
His crew ran after him, and Parker finally wedged himself and was able to stop his fall. He was found unconscious, almost. A cast member and a crew member grabbed him out and Parker choked out water and mud.
Clearly shaken, he said “that went from zero to 100” in a “very short time”. As they checked him for injuries, they noted his fingers were swelling and going numb
Gold Rush cameraman Sam Brown said it was a “very close call”. He worried Parker Schnabel wouldn’t regain his footing. And Brown said he thought Parker would be swept into the valley far below. He added, “Honestly, I thought he was a goner.”
Crew Member Terrence Woods Jr Missing from Set of Gold Rush — Presumed Dead
One last bit of strangeness comes with the disappearance of a crew member. Terrence Woods Jr was hired as a production assistant. His father dropped him off on September 30 at Reagan International in Arlington, Virginia.
Four days later, his son texted from the hotel. A day later, he texted that he was coming home early. He was reportedly supposed to work another two weeks.
According to Fox News, Terrence worked on Gold Rush: Dave Turin’s Lost Mine at Penman Mine near Orogrande, Idaho. The next call his dad Terrence Woods Sr and mom, Valerie Butler, got was to notify them that their son was missing.
His father said Terrence told him there was “something uncomfortable” about the job but went anyway. Associate producer Simon Gee said they’d wrapped for the day and Terrence Woods went to relieve himself before they left.
Gee says he feared he’d fallen. He ran to the edge and saw the PA running fast down the incline. Several crew members tried to find him. Next, they called the Idaho County Sheriff at 5:30 pm on October 5, 2018.
Other witnesses said he dropped his two-way radio and ran off abruptly. A canine search tracked Terrence to a road, then lost the scent. His parents told Dr. Phil a theory that someone was “bullying” their son and he was “scared”.
His mom said, “They have no healing — no answers” despite hiring two different PIs. And Sheriff Doug Giddings, who led the investigation said, “We’ve done everything we can do from K9s to helicopters to flyovers… grid coverage.”
He added, “if you saw the area,” you could see that “you can just disappear.” To date, Terrence Woods Jr’s not been found. His parents suspect someone picked him up at the road.
Nathan Clark is Alive and Well
There were rumors that Nathan Clark had died. However, the 6′ 4″ star is doing just fine. Nathan recently filed a new series called Gold Rush: Winter’s Fortune for the Discovery Channel..
