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Heartwarming moment Utah father and son find treasure chest with $25,000 prize: 'Feels like a dream'
A treasure hunt in Utah has culminated with a father and son from Eagle Mountain finding a chest with a $25,000 prize.
Damon Johnson and his son Ty were exploring Grove Creek in Pleasant Grove when they found the chest behind a rock.
'It still feels like a dream,' a surprised Ty told ABC 4 last week while he was with his father and an unidentified boy.
Utah Poem Treasure Hunt organizers David Cline and John Maxim confirmed the win in an Instagram video they posted after Johnson and his son found the treasure.
Johnson and his son found the treasure in three hours after grappling with the hunt's riddle — a Spanish poem.
Damon Johnson and his son Ty were exploring Grove Creek in Pleasant Grove when they found the chest behind a rock. It had $25,000 inside
Johnson, who participated in the treasure hunt in 2022 and 2023, revealed that it was he and his son's third hike since Cline and Maxim posted the hint.
In Johnson's words, his 'aha moment' came thanks to his knowledge of the Beehive State's history.
'There was a line I read about on how the tribes would gather around Utah Lake and have festivals,' he said.
With that line, he connected the poem to a choir, which made him think of Mount Timpanogos.
Johnson went on to search for the mountain on Google Maps and found a shadow that led him to the area where he found the treasure.
'I think the way that you got there wasn't exactly the idea we had in mind, but you still got to the same place in the end,' Cline told Johnson after the explanation.
Johnson participated in treasure hunts for the last two years before finding it. The Utah resident made the connection through a Spanish poem - a hint posted last Saturday
Cline and Maxim began doing the Utah treasure hunts in 2020 and have held the Poem Hunt and QR Hunt every year since.
The two of them explained on the treasure hunt's website that they created it as a way to create something fun that would give everyone a 'safe way to get outside with family and friends.'
Although they've provided multiple hints for nearly all of their treasure hunts, the organizers confirmed it was the first time they ever used a non-English poem while speaking with ABC 4.
'A lot of the movies and stuff that we came up with like The Goonies, for example, the treasure map is all in Spanish, so it’s not that weird for us to be like, "Hey, this time the treasure is in Spanish,"' Maxim said.
David Cline and John Maxim confirmed the win in an Instagram video they posted after Johnson and his son found the treasure
Damon plans to use his money to finish his computer science degree. He recently used some of it while going back-to-school shopping with Ty.
He also plans to pay off some of his debts and put some into a school fund for his kids.