Utah Treasure Hunt: Location of prize revealed as Pella native bags $25,000

The Utah Treasure Hunt is finally over. After a long 51 days and an influx of hints, the wooden chest and the $25,000 reward were claimed. On Sunday, July 16, Chelsea Gotta from Pella, Iowa, ended the drought and won the elusive prize. This is the first time an individual from outside Utah has won the reward. The treasure was found in the Mueller Park Trail.

This year's annual Utah Treasure Hunt began in late May and was the longest in the event's history. The event was organized by John Maxim and David Cline. The Utah Treasure Hunt was based on a poem, which hunters had to decipher to locate the reward. As the days went on, additional hints were provided by Maxim and Cline every Friday on social media.

Chelsea Gotta alongside David Cline and John Maxim (Image via Instagram/@the.cline.fam)

In an Instagram post David Cline and John Maxim put out on Monday, July 17, the duo could be seen standing with and congratulating the winner, Chelsea Gotta. Chelsea carried the chest while John opened it and showed the camera its contents.

The chest contained the prize money, along with a small skull replica. John later put out an Instagram story in which he explained that the wandering skull was put to combat imposters who put out fake chests with fake money.

John Maxim with the skull (Image via Instagram/@onthejohn)

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Utah Treasure Hunt solved by Iowa resident who plans to organize her own hunt

Chelsea revealed that the chest was found under Pine cone debris. The booty was found hidden at the base of a tree in South Eastern Bountiful, up Mueller Park.

David revealed that he was in the shower when he learned that the prize was found. He also revealed that Chelsea had never met or contacted them. She stated that she was an Iowa resident who heard about the Utah Treasure Hunt while scrolling on her phone and had to travel to Utah three times this month for the sake of the hunt.

Chelsea said that once she found the chest, she just lay there crying out of happiness. Chelsea Gotta has a full-time job, from which she took time off just to participate in the Utah Treasure Hunt. She revealed that, in reality, she had to leave the day before but asked her boss for an extension for just one more day.

When she was asked what she would do with the money, she replied that she would share her reward with a fellow treasure-hunting family with three blonde boys whom she met and bonded with while on the trail.

As for the rest of the money, Chelsea said she would replenish her Utah Treasure Hunt expenses and then put it into a treasure hunt she will organize back home in Iowa. Chelsea Gotta has previous experience organizing treasure hunts. She organized a $1400 treasure hunt the first time she returned after treasure hunting in Utah. Her hunt was won by a single mom who needed the money.

Chelsea put out an Instagram post in which she thanked the state of Utah, praised the lord, and asked the family she had met while on the trail to contact her before she left. She requested help for the same from John and David.

She also put out a few posts that showed a few clues she deciphered and her struggles along the way.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Chelsea Gotta wrote:

"I’ll be really honest! I am so glad this is over! For the people who surround me daily you know the amount of time, thought and effort input into this hunt."

"I just wanna say Utah is beautiful…I enjoyed my time away but I’m ready to be in the comfort of my home with Shannon-Clay-the pups and my cat!," she added.

John and David stated that a video of the clues and hints fully solved would be put out along with an answer to viewers' questions. A quick-solve walkthrough of the poem, on which the Utah Treasure Hunt was based, was posted on Youtube by David Cline.

In the video, David Cline gives viewers a line-by-line solution to the poem. Another QR Hunt, organized by the duo, is on the way in September of this year.

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