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SALT LAKE CITY — A 13-year-old Utah girl is on top of the world after figuring out a clue that led to a treasure of a lifetime from her favorite band, Imagine Dragons.
“(I like them) a lot. A lot! Like, I only listen to their music,” Lindsea Taylor said ecstatically during a Skype interview.
On Tuesday, the band made this cryptic post on its Facebook page, along with its new album cover: "First rule of following directions, be precise; second rule of following directions, make sure your navigation tools are up to par; and the third and final rule of following directions is the early bird catches the worm (there is only one worm, and it's alive and well). Happy hunting.
Lindsea, who is from Utah but now lives in Florida, figured it out.
“I’m so excited, and I’m so happy,” she said.
Lindsea made the discovery Tuesday, after the band posted the riddle on Facebook.
"I decided to look into it further and try to figure out what it was," she said.
She looked at their new album cover, "Smoke and Mirrors," and noticed what looked like backward numbers. She also noticed what looked liked possible coordinates in the webbing underneath the hands in the picture.
"I zoomed in on the picture, and I found the numbers," she said, "and I just immediately, I was just like … these are coordinates."
Lindsea and her dad put the numbers into Google, which led to a location in Las Vegas, where the band with Utah ties is now based.
Her grandfather has family in Las Vegas, so she contacted them and begged them to go check out the spot. They had to dig, and sure enough they found a buried treasure in the Nevada desert.
"There was a guitar signed by all the band members and a case for it,” she said. “There were 10 Polaroids with pictures of the band members, and they each signed it, and then there were drum sticks signed, and there was a master pass that allows me to get into all of the ("Smoke and Mirrors") concerts that I want. Two tickets free!"
Lindsea said it still feels like a dream, like she's imagining it, only this imagination is real. She figured out the Imagine Dragons.
"I think it so cool,” Lindsea said. “I've never ever seen anybody else do something like this, and I think the fact they interact with their fans, it just creates a better relationship."
The band manager confirmed the contest, and on its Facebook page the band wished its fans a “Happy New Year's to all" and promised "many more big surprises to come soon.”
Contributing: Viviane Vo-Duc
