Local couple finds hidden cash, prizes hours after business launches treasure hunt
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IDAHO FALLS – A local couple is $2,000 richer after finding hidden treasure in Swan Valley.
Earlier this month, Anderson Hicks Group hid $2,000 in a treasure box along Palisades Creek Trail, along with tickets to the Idaho Falls Zoo, raceway, the Museum of Idaho and other partnering businesses.
Braydon Bench, 25, of Swan Valley found it on July 2 several hours after a story was posted on EastIdahoNews.com.
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Bench tells EastIdahoNews.com the trail is about 15 minutes from his house. His wife, Nolee, heard about the treasure hunt and passed along the clue Anderson Hicks provided on its Instagram page.
“She was giving me ideas and we both thought it was on a trail that might be close by our house. We just started with what was close to us but we had a good feeling about that trail,” Braydon says.
Braydon says he found it about 200 feet into the trail after spending two and a half hours looking for it.
There were many others searching for it as well, and Braydon and his wife decided to give the gift cards to another family that had “barely missed it” during their search.
Braydon and his wife recently learned they are expecting their first child so they’re planning to save the money for child expenses.
“It’ll definitely help with that,” says Braydon.
In hindsight, Braydon’s main takeaway from this experience is to always act on an impression to “go do something good” because it could reap big rewards.
After such a massive response to the treasure hunt, Anderson Hicks Marketing Manager Anike Wilder says they’re planning to launch another one on August 5. The details are still being worked out, but she says the amount of money will be larger than $2,000 this time.
Clues will be posted weekly on the business’s Instagram page and participants can fill out a form on the website to get the clue a day early.