CROWN POINT | Rob Hefner spotted the small brown leather pouch just as the first glints of sunlight illuminated White River State Park in Indianapolis.
It was tucked beneath a table in the park -- the "within four rectangles is a square, look beneath, the coin is there" he'd read about in the hunt's final clue.
Inside the pouch was Hefner's prize, a heavy coin proclaiming him a winner of Dr. Pepper's Hunt for More contest.
"I didn't know if I was holding $1 million in my hand," the 26-year-old said.
Hefner, of Crown Point, would learn he was walking away with $25,000 for following a series of 30 clues to the coin. He received his prize earlier this month.
The clues were given on-line with a code from marked bottles of Dr. Pepper.
Dr. Pepper's treasure hunt was a nationwide promotion that led consumers on a search for 23 hidden gold coins worth a various prize amounts.
The clues tied in to coins hidden within consumers' regions based on zip codes.
Hefner tracked the clues and solved the riddles during a 30-day period that lead him to the state park in Indianapolis.
"Yahoo Maps was my best friend through all this," he said, laughing.
As the contest wound down to the final clues in early March, Hefner took two days off work to drive to Indianapolis and hunt for the coin. He convinced two friends to help him look.
They scoured the park in the cold starting at 3:30 a.m. to find it, digging through snow and overturning tables.
Hefner said there were about 10 other teams searching in the same area. By 7 a.m., many had given up or left for their cars to warm up.
He continued to search as his friends slept in the vehicle. Finally, he noticed a small zip tie and grabbed the leather sack that was flush against the table.
The money arrived a few weeks after Dr. Pepper verified the coin.
Hefner said he paid off some student loans and credit card bills with the money and also gave a little to the friends who helped him search. The rest, he said, went into savings.
"It was a fun experience," he said. "Me being a geek and looking at different promotions led to one paying off."
