I thought the whole point of the riddle was that it’d be a person (even if it isn’t clear at first); doubt it could have been an object

That's true, and you're right, I was just wondering whether a person could be so shallow that they didn't have a person they would miss enough.

Allow me to counter that with another question that might render yours moot: do you think that Tom Riddle would ever have been selected by the Goblet of Fire?

@LectorMagnificus good counter, I thought of this as I was writing the post. No, I do not think that Tom Riddle would have been chosen, as they specifically said the Goblet chose only the worthy. So, most likely the answer is no, but it's fun to think about, at least to me.

I find it interesting that Krum chose Hermione. Didn't he have friends he'd miss the way Harry missed Ron? Didn't he have family to love like Fleur? Why was the person he'd miss a girl he knew from a few months and wasn't from his school? Did he really love Hermione that much and was she really the first one to go so near? There is a lot to think about how the task works and if there was another person to have to look for an object, it would be very hard for him.

On another note, since the teachers are the one to gather the captured and they wouldn't know about the Horcruxes, Voldemort's treasure wouldn't be one

Krum is known to have kept his own company, at least as a teenager. I'm not sure how many friends he actually had at Durmstrang, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was quite isolated there. I don't recall him interacting much with the other Durmstrang students who visited Hogwarts for the Tournament. I don't think this is particularly strange. He probably spent the majority of his time outside of his lessons in Quidditch training, which doesn't leave much time for hanging out with friends.

@LectorMagnificus While it is true that the Goblet would not select Tom Riddle. But the Goblet is not gullible. If he wanted, he could trick the goblet select him much like Barty Jr. did. Then the question could be raised about whom he might want to rescue.

I'm not sure if even Voldemort would have been powerful enough at a young age to trick the Goblet of Fire, but it is possible, I suppose. However, the way Crouch Jr tricked the Goblet would be quite different from the way Voldemort would need to trick it, as it would have been quite obvious that he would have done it himself if he used Crouch's way, which would have gotten him in a lot of trouble.

To go back to the original question: I would expect that they would have simply selected one of his cronies. He would have wanted to rescue them to strengthen their loyalty to him.

After he made Nagini as a Horcrux, he could have used Nagini as the hostage and she is living creature. This situation is weird though. 😅

Lol ikr