1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:04,880 Speaker 1: Crime Alard hourly update, breaking crime news. Now, I'm Nicole Parton. 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: A treasure hunter at the center of one of America's 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: most extraordinary shipwreck mysteries, has been released from federal prison 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,440 Speaker 1: more than a decade after refusing to reveal the location 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: of five hundred missing gold coins. Tommy Thompson, now seventy 6 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: three years old, is best known for discovering the legendary 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: quote ship of gold, the SSS Central America. The ship 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,480 Speaker 1: sank in eighteen fifty seven during a violent hurricane off 9 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: the coast of South Carolina, claiming more than four hundred 10 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: lives and sending tons of California gold to the bottom 11 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: of the Atlantic. In nineteen eighty eight, Thompson located the 12 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:48,599 Speaker 1: shipwreck and recovered massive amounts of treasure gold bars and 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 1: coins estimated at one hundred million dollars, but the triumph 14 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: didn't last long. Investigators who funded the expedition said they 15 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: never saw their share of the profits, and when a 16 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: court ordered Thompson to disclose the location of the five 17 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: hundred gold coins, reportedly worth two point five million dollars, 18 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: he refused. In twenty fifteen, Thompson was found in contempt 19 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: of court and sent to federal prison. He has racked 20 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,960 Speaker 1: up heavy fines, one thousand dollars for every day behind bars, 21 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: more than three point three million in civil penalties, and 22 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 1: another two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in criminal contempt fines. 23 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: Thompson remained silent about the missing coins for years, insisting 24 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: he couldn't reveal their location. At one point, he claimed 25 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,040 Speaker 1: the coins were transferred to a trust in Belise, while 26 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: saying the rest of the recovered treasure went to legal 27 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: fees and bank loans. Now, after nearly a decade in prison, 28 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirms that Thompson was released 29 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: on March fourth. Officials say there will be no further 30 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: comment on his confinement or release conditions, citing secrety and 31 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: privacy rules. The mystery, however, remains unsolved. The five hundred 32 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: gold coins and the truth behind what happened to them 33 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: are still missing. For now, the man behind the greatest 34 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: treasure discovery in American history is out of prison, but 35 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: the question surrounding the ship of gold continues. Or Crime 36 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: and Justice News After this and now to West Virginia, 37 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: a teenager called nine to one one to report a 38 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:34,399 Speaker 1: domestic violence incident. When police arrived at the home, they 39 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: found much more than just a domestic violence episode. They 40 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: found a four year old child with autism locked inside 41 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: a room. According to WDTV, forty year old Joshua Vincent 42 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: Moore and Kayla Sperrell, thirty six year old woman, were 43 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: arrested on March five and charged with child neglect creating 44 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: a risk of injury. The Upshur County Sheriff's Office said 45 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: in a criminal complaint that deputies rec responded to a 46 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: call from the couple's teenager inside the home, reporting domestic 47 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: violence between the parents, but when police searched the home, 48 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: they found a four year old child alone in a bedroom. 49 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: Local news outlets The inter Mountain reported that deputies questioned 50 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: Sparrow and more about the alleged domestic dispute incident. The 51 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: wife told the deputies that Moore hit her in the 52 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: face with a phone by accident, which caused a laceration 53 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: above her lip. When police spoke to the daughter, she 54 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: told them that altercations between the two were common, though 55 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: more was more often mentally and emotionally abusive than Sparrow. 56 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: One of the deputies asked about other children in the home, 57 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: and that's when the daughter led them to a back bedroom, 58 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: where two locks locked a door and then a gate 59 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: inside a four year old child, described by the daughter 60 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: as having a non verbal autism. She told police that 61 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: her parents had locked the child in the room quote 62 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: for safety purposes quote as long as I can remember. 63 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: According to the complaint, the child was naked and had 64 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: blued stains all over the child's mouth, feet, and face. 65 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: Police discovered the child was allegedly trying to finger paint 66 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: with their own feces. The daughter told police that her 67 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 1: parents asked her to skip school to watch the four 68 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: year old. She said more had gone to work and 69 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: Sparrow was not home. She said she couldn't continue to 70 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: miss school, so they locked the daughter in the room. 71 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,239 Speaker 1: The teen said the four year old was often locked 72 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 1: inside the room because the husband in the home wanted 73 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: to quote smoke weed and play video games. When police 74 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: questioned the mother as to how long the child had 75 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: been locked into the room, she said she couldn't really say, 76 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,840 Speaker 1: as she had been to work and then after work 77 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: had gone to a friend's house where quote, we split 78 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: a bottle of vodka and watched a movie. Then police 79 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: turned to the man in the home and asked him 80 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:54,799 Speaker 1: how long the child had been locked in the room. 81 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: When police talked to Spurrell, he said he didn't really remember. 82 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: His usual routine was to wake up at three thirty am, 83 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: smoke marijuana, and then go to work. He would return 84 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: home about one thirty pm. He told deputies that Sparrow 85 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: often smoked marijuana with him and so their memories quote 86 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: aren't the best. We're not really sure, but we do 87 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: feed the child, and he's there because we have no 88 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: one else to care for him. Moore and Sparrow were 89 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: taken into custody and they remain in the Tiger Valley 90 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: Regional Jail, each with a bond set at twenty five 91 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: thousand dollars cash. Police have removed the child from the home. 92 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: The child is now safe in the care of the 93 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 1: Department of Children and Family Services and now to Kentucky. 94 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: The Ohio County Police are searching for a missing teen. 95 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: According to the Sheriff's Office, seventeen year old Molly Jane 96 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: Young was last seen in the Hartford area around nine 97 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:53,360 Speaker 1: pm on Tuesday. Young is described as a white female 98 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: with brown hair and blue eyes. She stands five eight 99 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: and weighs about two hundred and twenty pounds. Police says 100 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 1: she was last seen wearing a black jogger, green shirt 101 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: and I had a large black dog with her at 102 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: the time of her disappearance. Her family says her cell 103 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: phone is left behind, she has no money with her, 104 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: and police fear for her safety. Anyone with information is 105 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 1: asked to contact the OCSO at two seven zero two 106 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: nine eight four four one one and for the latest 107 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: crime in justice news, follow Crime Alert hourly update on 108 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: your favorite podcasting app with this crime Alert. I'm Nicole Parton.