U.S. MARSHALS HUNT FOR TOMMY THOMPSON

These days, off the South Carolina coast, a new expedition is underway to recover more treasure from the “Ship of Gold,” the sunken SS Central America. Inside the mess hall of the barge making the voyage hangs a “Wanted” poster of the man who first found the ship.

The U.S. Marshals Service wanted the poster of Thompson displayed so the crew would recognize him in case he shows up, lured out of the shadows by the galling idea that someone else is collecting the gold he unearthed.

“They've awakened the sleeping beast,” Marshals agent Mark Stroh says of the wave of publicity that has introduced the tale of the treasure and its fugitive discoverer to a new generation.

Stroh and fellow agent Brad Fleming remain captivated by the man they've pursued these last two years, since Thompson skipped a court date to explain what's become of the riches.

They've done meticulous research on Thompson to better understand their target, splashed his face on electronic billboards and run down hundreds of tips from the public – from the guy who thought he might have shared an elevator with Thompson at a Florida casino to a report that the name “Tommy” was signed on a memorial website for a dead friend of the treasure hunter.

Nothing has panned out.

“I think he had calculated it, whatever you want to call it, an escape plan, a contingency plan to be gone,” says Fleming. “I think he's had that for a long time.”

As the agents share Thompson's story, their mix of bewilderment and something akin to admiration for the treasure hunter is clear. Stroh likens Thompson to some of the greatest men in history. Christopher Columbus. Thomas Edison.

“He set out to find the Central America in the middle of a whole vast expanse of nothing and found it, and did it with relative ease,” Stroh says, “like he was trying to find a set of car keys he misplaced in his house, but the house is hundreds of miles of ocean.”

A person like that, the agent says, is not going to be pulled over for running a stop sign.

Bob Evans and Tommy Thompson June 18, 1991

To read the complete article, see:
‘Plague of the gold' – treasure hunter turned fugitive (www.newsobserver.com/2014/09/13/4147497/plague-of-the-gold-treasure-hunter.html)

To read a Daily Mail version (submitted by Dick Hanscom) see: Treasure hunter Tommy Thompson who discovered the 'Ship of 'Gold' in 1988 and made millions remains on the lam two years after he vanished amid lawsuits from insurers, investors and his own crew (www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2754896/Treasure-hunter-Tommy-Thompson-discovered-Ship-Gold-1988-millions-remains-lam-two-years-vanished-amid-slew-lawsuits-insurers-investors-crew-seeking-share-wealth.html)

To read a relevant earlier E-Sylum article, see: BOB EVANS ON THE DISPOSITION OF THE S.S. CENTRAL AMERICA TREASURE (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n16a32.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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