Treasure Hunter Freed After Refusing to Reveal Shipwreck Gold

Tommy Thompson, a 73-year-old deep-sea treasure hunter, has been released from prison after spending a decade behind bars for refusing to disclose the whereabouts of 500 gold coins from a historic shipwreck. Despite his release, the coins remain unaccounted for.

Thompson, formerly an oceanic engineer, discovered the SS Central America in 1988. The vessel, known as the Ship of Gold, sank in 1857 off South Carolina's coast while transporting 30,000 pounds of newly minted San Francisco gold to the east coast. The disaster claimed 425 lives and contributed to the financial panic of 1857. Thompson's crew recovered thousands of gold bars and coins from 7,000 feet below the ocean surface, later selling much of it for approximately $50 million in 2000.

However, the 161 investors who had contributed $12.7 million to fund the expedition alleged they never received their promised returns. Thompson maintained that proceeds went toward legal fees and bank loans, and that coins were transferred to a Belize trust. Criminal complaints later valued the recovered treasure at up to $400 million. After evading court appearances and living under false identities in Florida, Thompson was arrested in 2015 and imprisoned for civil contempt. Last year, the presiding judge terminated his sentence, concluding Thompson would likely never comply.