The Digester

Tommy Thompson, the deep sea salvager who found the SS Central America ship of gold, has been released after about a decade in custody for refusing to reveal where hundreds of recovered coins are hidden, while investors still seek missing proceeds.

Tommy Thompson discovered and recovered gold bars and coins from the 1857 SS Central America in 1988.
Investors put in $12.7 million to fund the recovery and later sued Thompson after receiving no proceeds.
Some recovered treasure was sold around 2000 for about $50 million while recovered items were alleged to be worth up to $400 million.
Thompson went missing in 2012, was arrested in 2015, and jailed for refusing to disclose the location of missing coins.
A judge ended his civil contempt sentence after roughly ten years when it was judged unlikely he would comply, leaving about 500 coins unaccounted for

Treasure hunter freed after decade in jail as 500 SS Central America coins remain missing

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