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By Kathy Lynn GrayThe Columbus Dispatch Wednesday April 17, 2013 12:03 PM
Treasure hunter Tommy Thompson’s mug will begin flashing on digital billboards all over Columbus today as the U.S. Marshals Service ramps up its hunt for the man who once charmed the community but now is a fugitive.
Photographs of Thompson and his assistant and fellow fugitive, Alison Antekeier, are on the billboards, with a notice asking anyone who has seen them or knows their whereabouts to call the marshals.
U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. ordered Thompson’s arrest in August after he didn’t appear at a contempt hearing in federal court in Columbus. Sargus ordered Antekeier’s arrest late last year for the same reason.
Thompson lived in Columbus in the 1980s and has grown children who live here. Antekeier lived in Columbus until a few years ago, when she moved to Florida and lived with Thompson.
The digital-billboard photos and information about Thompson and Antekeier also are running in Florida, where the pair lived in a Vero Beach estate until late last summer.
Central Ohioans invested millions in Thompson’s search for shipwreck gold 26 years ago. He and his crew salvaged 3 tons of gold, silver and artifacts from the wreck of the SS Central America, a steamer that sank along the East Coast in 1857.
Investors received nothing. Two, including The Dispatch Printing Company, sued in state court. Seamen who worked for Thompson sued in federal court for a small percentage of the treasure they believe they’re entitled to.
The marshals are able to run “wanted” notices on digital billboards operated by Clear Channel Digital Outdoor Network through a partnership they’ve had since last fall. The company has nearly 1,000 of the billboards nationwide, including 30 in Columbus.
The marshals are using the service for selected fugitives, said Brad Fleming, a deputy U.S. marshal in Columbus.
The notices, which include information on the charges against Thompson and Antekeier, will be up for 5 to 7 seconds and will rotate with paid advertising on the billboards.
Fleming said they’ll remain on the billboards “for the duration” of the search for the pair.
Treasure hunter Tommy Thompson’s mug will begin flashing on digital billboards all over Columbus today as the U.S. Marshals Service ramps up its hunt for the man who once charmed the community but now is a fugitive.
Photographs of Thompson and his assistant and fellow fugitive, Alison Antekeier, are on the billboards, with a notice asking anyone who has seen them or knows their whereabouts to call the marshals.
U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. ordered Thompson’s arrest in August after he didn’t appear at a contempt hearing in federal court in Columbus. Sargus ordered Antekeier’s arrest late last year for the same reason.
Thompson lived in Columbus in the 1980s and has grown children who live here. Antekeier lived in Columbus until a few years ago, when she moved to Florida and lived with Thompson.
The digital-billboard photos and information about Thompson and Antekeier also are running in Florida, where the pair lived in a Vero Beach estate until late last summer.
Central Ohioans invested millions in Thompson’s search for shipwreck gold 26 years ago. He and his crew salvaged 3 tons of gold, silver and artifacts from the wreck of the SS Central America, a steamer that sank along the East Coast in 1857.
Investors received nothing. Two, including The Dispatch Printing Company, sued in state court. Seamen who worked for Thompson sued in federal court for a small percentage of the treasure they believe they’re entitled to.
The marshals are able to run “wanted” notices on digital billboards operated by Clear Channel Digital Outdoor Network through a partnership they’ve had since last fall. The company has nearly 1,000 of the billboards nationwide, including 30 in Columbus.
The marshals are using the service for selected fugitives, said Brad Fleming, a deputy U.S. marshal in Columbus.
The notices, which include information on the charges against Thompson and Antekeier, will be up for 5 to 7 seconds and will rotate with paid advertising on the billboards.
Fleming said they’ll remain on the billboards “for the duration” of the search for the pair.
