The Source Code was released in November of 2025. Near the end of June 2026 it was solved! Congrats to DebK! I love her story and her thoughts about how treasure hunting is one of the best ways to enjoy traveling the USA! So many interesting places explored – that this hobby brings you to.

On the Source code – what began with a book filled with puzzles, movie references, hidden themes, wrong turns, and plenty of head-scratching eventually led Deb to a very real treasure in Griffith Park, California.

The solve took persistence, creative thinking, research, and ultimately a trip to the very place the clues were pointing. In these Six Questions, Deb shares how the journey unfolded, the theories that didn’t pan out, the breakthroughs that did, and the unforgettable moment when Samantha Dammer’s signature metal cigar box was finally discovered.

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Source Code Treasure hunt

Enjoy – Six Questions with DebK:

  • Q1)  Congrats on solving The Source Code!  What first drew you into the hunt? What made you decide to take up this particular puzzle book?

Thank you so much! It was so exciting to finally solve a “BIG” hunt! I was drawn to this hunt as it was written by Samantha Dammer. I had participated in her “Cupid’s Arrow” and “Ben Franklin’s Key” hunts. I really like her style of writing! I was drawn to this hunt because it’s a bunch of puzzles – ALL KINDS of puzzles! Even though I didn’t “SOLVE” the whole thing, there were a bunch that I did solve and I know I can learn and improve in my puzzle solving abilities once the author’s solutions are published.

Samantha actually included a video game outside the book – location on the internet was gleaned from solved clues. The entire answer for that chapter was “GO THE DISTANCE”. I spent so much time on the game because I am an old 16 bit game junkie! It was truly a creative inclusion on her part and the message was already in the chapter – so just some extra fun and distraction for sure.

  • Q2) How did you approach the hunt as a whole? Did you methodically work through the clues, jump around looking for connections, use outside research, or simply follow your instincts?

I like to read through a book in its entirety first to see if I can detect underlying themes. The Source Code seemed to center around horror stories, horror-like flicks and had a “stalker” in the story that followed the main character, Shay. There was a “city” theme as well, with each chapter having Shay traveling to a new city which had to be “solved” for each chapter. Some of those city themes were wrapped into the movie or book hinted at in each chapter – such as Chapter 4, ‘the pie chapter’ (OH THAT PIE CHAPTER!)

The movie clues led me to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – which took place in Savannah, Georgia. I have a US Map on the wall above my desk in my “war room” and pinned each city, connecting the dots. Turns out the TV in the Dallas chapter had the map on it!

  • Q3) Can you walk us through the solution? Can you share the steps you took, the key breakthroughs along the way, and how those pieces ultimately led you to the treasure? 

Having a son who lives in West Hollywood, California, I had been a visitor to Griffith Park in the past and was familiar with its horror history before the land was donated to the city. Google it! Since the book centered around horror and several movies, Hollywood came to mind.

The old Los Angeles Zoo (the final destination) was perfect because Samantha is an advocate for animals, so it made perfect sense once I put it all together. The steps were tedious at times, but solves gradually emerged, like those related to the movie “Goldfinger” and the Gas Pump puzzle! Gas Pump – James Bond’s car! That’s how I figured out the Goldfinger license plates cipher. Watching the movies referenced as clues REALLY helped. His plate rotates on his Aston Martin. Those 3 license plate numbers were on the gas pump!

So much of the book referenced things backward—like the movie “The Shining” – REDRUM/MURDER. The “Widdershins” puzzle about the Ewings. Chapter 81/18. This was a secondary theme. Even the Groundhog Day movie chapter – which wasn’t a horror flick, but imagine waking up everyday and it’s yesterday again? That’s horrifying! AND BACKWARDS TOO!

I love What 3 Words, so I kept looking at exact location markers on their maps to see if anything made sense – I felt I was on the right track, then the groundhog chapter woke me up to “Smell the coffee” so to speak as Shay “Smelled” that coffee! It made me think, “Well, there is a sense I didn’t imagine would be something to think about in a hunt!”

The smelly stickers I got as part of the prize were proof positive that smells were important too – though I didn’t focus all my effort on those. It seemed like there was going to be more than one way to the final destination! Watching the movies mattered. The previous four passwords could be found in the movie Wargames where hacking passwords mattered!

Sometimes when you think you’ve solved something, you need to go a little further. I did not solve the meta puzzle! I did know that the order of the times in each chapter seemed important so I included that in my spreadsheets. The Chapter about Florida and Jimmy Buffet and the solve for the Rebus led me on a tangent that led me to Los Angeles. Long story short, Ernest Hemingway was infamously associated with Key West and in my internet ramblings, I came upon the poem “For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Worn”. It is falsely attributed to him and I thought, “A Mandela effect?”

Chapter 24 talks about the one of the “World’s Oldest Market Places” – Amazon, eBay… Well, I searched that Baby Shoes poem title and found a pair under that title with a story that references a character named “Don” which I recognized from one of Samantha’s other websites in a past hunt. The seller of these shoes was in BURBANK, CALIFORNIA.

As was with the wagon/picnic table association, I felt I had a clincher this time! Chapter 25 gave very specific instructions on Shay climbing steps. Talking to my son, he told me there was a big staircase at the Observatory in Griffith Park – which I already knew – and at the old Los Angeles Zoo. I googled and yes, there was! l have been needing to go for a visit for a while to see him and his wife and my Grandkitties – so I booked a flight and we went for a walk.

I followed the instructions in Chapter 25. Up the stairs, to the left, there was a wall of graffiti: KAOS—huh! Not Texas afterall! It was inside an old animal enclosure of bars of steel – KHaOS clad in steel. At that point my heart fluttered as I felt we were on the right track. Goingabout each corner carefully, there it was in the distance: a tree split in three. Yup – a tree split in three.

Then I looked again at the picture in the book in Chapter 25 and my heart just about stopped. It matched! Yes! As a responsible BOTG hunter, leave no trace. We started flipping rocks and putting them back one-by-one and didn’t find anything! Almost heartbreaking! Then I re-read that last bit that mentions 4 paces. Ah, PAST the tree… There was a rock, my son overturned it and handed me Samantha’s signature little metal cigar box. I was shaking! SO FUN! It was a bit of an “outside the box” solve, but there is always magic!

  • Q4) Every hunt seems to have its share of wrong turns. Was there a theory you became convinced was correct that ultimately led nowhere and what finally made you abandon it? 

Well, there is this wagon picture with the prize diamond ring on it in the chapter about “Field of Dreams” and the last chapter mentioning “KHaOS clad in steel”. KHOS is a radio station in Sonora Texas! So, I searched on google maps and pounded the ground via the internet. I FOUND a rest stop outside of Sonora that has picnic table enclosures that look EXACTLY like that wagon!

I was convinced and trying to find a way to Texas, but the weather here was unpredictable at the time (Winter snow closes our airport time to time). I kept on solving more puzzles in the book and gathering more information, and eventually, that idea faded as the location seemed too specific and didn’t really fit the horror theme – it was hard to let it go as it seemed so perfect!  

  • Q5) What would you say to someone who is staring at a treasure hunt and thinking, “I could never solve this”? Where might they begin or what should they do?

Don’t go to the chat rooms just yet! Start by making a plan – how will you approach this hunt? I set up spreadsheets, notes and begin to glean information from just reading the book through. I often buy two copies – one to mark up and the other to read. On the second go round, I began to ‘solve’ the obvious puzzles. Then I placed those answers in my spreadsheets.

ciphers, learn to look for word play, look for ‘leading’ words.Then go to the chat rooms and read what other’s are talking about. Once you have a handle on your personal approach, jump in!

  • Q6) What do you enjoy most about this hobby of treasure hunting? What hunts are you working on now? 

It all started with COVID – as many others found this outlet during that time. I had been retired for 4 years and didn’t want to be a crossword puzzle/sudoku retiree! I love travel and adventure. I have worked on and participated in several hunts over that past 6 years as an individual and as part of a team. 

Currently I am STILL working on There’s Treasure Inside, Xavier Marx, and a couple of other old hunts like The Golden Apple Tale in Michigan and it’s Tribute Hunt as well. As other smaller hunts arrive in my life, I will likely jump into those too! I love this hobby! Best way to see the USA!