(File Photo) Tommy Thompson holds a $50 pioneer gold piece retrieved from the wreck of the ship S.S. Central America in November 1989 (AP) ...

Tommy Thompson discovered bounty on shipwreck, then disappeared two years ago When treasure hunter Tommy Thompson first found the "Ship of Gold," a long-sunken steamer loaded with loot worth $50 ...

Tommy Thompson, now 72, has refused for a decade to tell anyone, ... The cargo ship, which wrecked in 1857, had been carrying a load of gold. The Dispatch Printing Company, ...

Tommy Thompson and a team of scientists found the so-called Ship of Gold in 1988. Since then, Thompson has been drowning in legal troubles.

Tommy Thompson, now 72, has refused for a decade to tell anyone, including his own lawyers, ... The cargo ship, which wrecked in 1857, had been carrying a load of gold.

FILE - Tommy Thompson holds a $50 pioneer gold piece retrieved from the wreck of the ship S.S. Central America, Nov. 1989. (Lon Horwedel/The Columbus Dispatch via AP, File) FILE - Tommy Thompson ...

Gold bars taken from the S.S. Central America ship which sank in 1857 Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images Tommy Thompson, the scientist and explorer who discovered three tons of gold from the ...

Tommy Thompson’s case dates to his 1988 discovery of the S.S. Central America, known as the Ship of Gold.

Thompson’s case dates to his discovery of the S.S. Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, in 1988. The gold rush-era ship sank in a hurricane off South Carolina in 1857 with thousands of ...

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.