Fugitive treasure hunter wanted by federal authorities for more than 2 years nabbed in Florida
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE -In this November 1989 file photo, Tommy Thompson holds a $50 pioneer gold piece retrieved earlier in 1989 from the wreck of the gold ship Central America. According to the US Marshals Service, Thompson, a fugitive treasure hunter wanted for more than 2 years was arrested in Florida. (AP Photo/The Columbus Dispatch, Lon Horwedel) (The Associated Press)
A fugitive treasure hunter wanted by federal authorities for more than two years has been arrested in Florida.
A senior inspector at the U.S. Marshals Service in Columbus, Ohio, said Wednesday that the agency tracked down Tommy Thompson at a hotel in Palm Beach County.
Thompson made history in 1988 when he found what's been described as the greatest lost treasure in American history, the sunken SS Central America. A yearslong legal battle involving insurance companies and investors ensued.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Thompson was arrested on a civil warrant issued in Ohio in August 2012 after he failed to show up for a key court hearing in a case involving investors who say they were duped by him.