A family of four has discovered a $50,000 treasure in Arkansas, ending a months-long hunt across the country, the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record reported.
The search began in February after author Pete Bissonette announced that his latest novel, Breakfast Tea & Bourbon, contained clues to a treasure.
The author told the newspaper he selected Hot Springs by printing out a map, spinning it around the dining room table and throwing his finger down at random.
“It landed within a thumbprint from Hot Springs,” he said. “I thought, 'Why not?'"
The Texas family narrowed the scope of their search to places in the Central Time Zone, based on the hunt’s start time, then followed a pattern along the book’s cover from New Orleans to Hot Springs.
On their first trip, they found nothing. But the second time, after rereading the novel and finding a buried clue, they dug up a bamboo flute.
“We saw what we saw and got really excited,” Coy Lothrop said.
On Monday, the family turned in the flute for $50,000, 100 bottles of wine and $5,000 for a charity of their choice.
Bissonette told the newspaper the hunt is not yet over, as he will be releasing a "missing chapter" with new clues sometime soon.
Click here to read the full story in the Sentinel-Record.