A treasure hunter locked in a legal battle over one of the greatest undersea hauls in American history was arrested in Florida after more than two years on the lam, authorities said Wednesday.
The U.S. Marshals Service tracked Tommy Thompson to a Hilton hotel in West Boca Raton and arrested him Tuesday, said Brian Babtist, a senior inspector in the agency’s office in Columbus, Ohio, where a federal civil arrest warrant was issued for him in 2012 for failing to show up to a key court hearing.
Authorities didn’t immediately explain how they were able to track down Thompson, whom they called “one of the most intelligent fugitives ever sought by the U.S. Marshals.”
Thompson made history in 1988 when he found the sunken S.S. Central America, also known as the Ship of Gold. Much of the ship’s gold was later sold to a gold marketing group in 2000 for about $50 million. The 161 investors who paid Thompson $12.7 million to find the ship never saw returns from the sale. Two of them sued. The legal battle is ongoing.
