COLUMBUS, Ohio – A deep-sea treasure hunter who spent years as a fugitive has returned to Ohio to face the investors he's accused of bilking out of millions of dollars in gold.
A judge in Ohio will handle the criminal contempt charge filed against Tommy Thompson after he went missing in the midst of demands he appear in court.
Federal court documents said the 62-year-old Thompson and his longtime companion, Alison Antekeier (an-teh-ker) were in the state Wednesday. The two had been held in Florida where they were apprehended in January.
Thompson has faced accusations of cheating investors nearly since his 1988 discovery of the S.S. Central America, known as the Ship of Gold. The ship sank in a hurricane off South Carolina in 1857 with thousands of pounds of gold aboard.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
