Friday, January 24, 1986/The Battalion/Page 5
ocal treasure hunters help
eople recover lost items
By BOBBY FOSTER
Reporter
After losing his senior ring in an-
le-deep mud at the Aggie bonfire
last fall, Trey Gross was delighted to
lave it returned 1 1 days later by a
rroup of part-time treasure hunters.
Members of the Historical Re-
earch and Recovery Club of Brazos
Galley use their metal detectors to
iearch for lost jewelry, but more of-
en they are sending signals into the
rround and finding old
acts and the unknown.
that some metal object is lying just a
few inches underfoot.
“I think 10 out of 10 treasure
seekers would like to pass over pull
tabs,” he said. “But if you adjusted
the metal detector accordingly, you
wouldn’t get a signal for a ring.”
But those expecting to only find
pull tabs can be surprised.
Once while teaching a friend how
to comb the ground, Orts got a sig
nal.
coins, arti-
Mike Orts, president of the club,
lid, “Metal detecting is a rewarding
M oIBcbby like hunting or fishing. The
similaiHiff er ence is that most other hobbies
e stilt■on’t allow you the chance to be re-
dearlil
1 capa-
esiden;
as sub-
ish iht
warded financially.”
The thrill of not knowing exactly
hat lies under the grass draws the
|5-member group to state-wide
impetitions and keeps it active on
Regular outings.
I For instance, some members of
the club recently searched for relics
n the site of a large Civil War battle-
round in Elkins Ford, Arkansas.
)ver the course of four days they
ound minnie balls, musket balls,
lieces of cannon shrapnel and even
[shotgun barrel.
It can be tedious waiting for the
netal detector to beep, signaling
Expecting it to be a pull tab, he
ended in digging up an 1842 silver
dime.
Right then the thrill of metal de
tecting was obvious to him, Orts said.
“It was the first pre-1900 coin I
ever dug,” he said. “I almost had a
heart attack.”
As far as stumbling upon unex
pected items however, Orts said an
honest effort is made to track down
their original owners if possible. But
some artifacts have little value other
than being from another time pe
riod.
Members of these organizations
are also committed to protecting nat
ural resources and wildlife, Orts
said.
“You should barely be able to tell
if someone is looking for treasure,”
Orts said. “The club helps make sure
people keep the environment the
way they found it.”
Although the club has no fee for
seeking lost objects, such as jewelry,
Orts said people usually give some
type of donation.
“Traditionally, private detectors
charge 10 percent of the value of the
object they’re looking for,” he said.
“Now it’s often a figure based on
what (the object) is worth to the
owner to have it returned.”
Although the club does most of its
work for individuals, Orts said the
club is often called upon to help or
ganizations.
The Society of Historic Preserva
tion for Brazos County, for example,
recently asked the club to comb a
tract of land for a proposed Sesqui-
centennial park. Orts said all arti
facts and relics found were turned
over to the society for use as they saw
fit.
-officer testifies at Fontenot trial
ie
its
n froE
ersityiti
Associated Press
LIVINGSTON — A former un-
Jercover narcotics officer testified
hursday as prosecutors tried to dis-
tedit a defense attorney’s conjec-
ure that football coach Billy Mac
leming could have been killed by
inderworld drug assassins, not his
:hool principal.
Hurley Fontenot, 48, former
rincipal at Hull-Daisetta Woodson
unior High School, is on trial for
ie murder of Fleming, 36, who
jached and taught math and sci-
nte at the school. Both wanted to
harry 36-year-old school secretary
laura Nugent.
I Montgomery County Attorney
■m Dozier told the 10-woman, 2-
lan jury he had never heard that
laving a victim without shoes and
xks is a style or trademark of a
rug-related killing.
Fleming’s body — discovered on
n old logging road in Polk County
days after he disappeared April
Sheriff’s investigator
Jimmy Belt said he had
heard Fleming might have
been involved with a man
identified by the defense
as a drug dealer.
12 — did not have shoes or socks.
Wednesday, defense attorney
Dick DeGuerin asked another wit
ness, “Have you noticed a curious
similarity in drug-related deaths,
that there’s a trademark or signature
in such dope-related executions
where the victim is left with no socks
or shoes?”
That witness, Liberty County
sheriffs investigator Jimmy Belt,
said he had heard of such a practice
but had no first-hand knowledge.
He told, however, of finding a white
substance believed to be cocaine in
X
s apartment and acknowl-
e had heard that Fleming
Flemin
edged
might have been involved with a
man identified by the defense as a
drug dealer.
Dozier was introduced Thursday
as an expert witness because he is a
former U.S. Customs Service officer
who worked undercover as a federal
narcotics agent.
DeGuerin tried unsuccessfully to
keep Dozier from testifying, noting
he was not on the prosecution’s list
of potential witnesses and was a for
mer co-worker of District Attorney
Peter Speers. Dozier said he just
happened to be in the Polk County
courthouse and Speers asked him
about the shoes-and-socks contro
versy.
Polk County Sheriff Ted Everitt
also testified Thursday about the
day Fleming’s body was found. He
said he saw no tire tracks or foot
prints on the logging road leading to
the body.
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Professor of Relaxation Therapy
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SIG EP
Spring Rush
1986
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Friday Jan. 24
Super Bowl Party
Sunday Jan. 26
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Schnaaps Party
Wednesday Jan. 29
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