In the past two years, a new treasure hunting trend called “magnet fishing” has become very popular. This is shown by the huge number of YouTube channels that cover the hobby. Magnet fishing is an easy thing to do. People who do this as a hobby tie strong ropes to powerful magnets and drop them into waterways to see what they attract.
Law enforcement and government agencies are paying attention to the hobby because criminals often drop weapons and stolen items into urban waterways after committing crimes. In 2019, a magnet fisherman in Michigan found an old mortar grenade from World War I. The bomb squad had to come to check it out.
George Tindale, 15, and his dad, Kevin, 52, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, in the United Kingdom, made an amazing discovery earlier this month when they used two magnets to pull a safe out of the River Witham.
George has a popular YouTube channel called “Magnetic G” which is all about fishing with magnets.
After the father and son dug the safe out of the murky water, they used a crowbar to break it open. Inside, they found about $2,500 Australian dollars (US$1,800), a certificate for a shotgun, and credit cards that were no longer valid because they had expired in 2004. The Tindales found the safe’s owner, Rob Everett, by using the name on the cards.
In 2000, Everett’s safe was taken during a break-in at his office and then thrown into the river. Everett told The Daily Mail, “I remember at the time, they smashed into a cabinet to get to the safe,” Everett said, according to The Daily Mail. “I was just upset that there was a nice pen on my desk, a Montblanc that was never recovered.”
The thief, a teenage boy, was caught quickly because he left behind a cap with his name stitched into it.
Everett’s father and son went to see him to return the money that had been stolen, and Everett’s business partner gave George a small reward for being honest. He also gave him an internship because of how good he was at math when he was counting the Australian dollars in the YouTube video. Everett said, “What’s good about it is, I run a wealth management company and… I’d love him to work for us,” Everett said.
Even though the safe story started with a theft 22 years ago, its end has given Everett more faith in people.
“I was just amazed that they’d been able to track me down,” he said. “There are some really nice and good people in this world. They could have kept the money, they could have said they attempted to get hold of me.”
The safe was stolen in the year 2000 #magnetfishinghttps://t.co/khYRDtoTdl
— Grantham Journal (@GranthamJournal) April 22, 2022
“There’s a big lesson there. It teaches George that doing good and being honest and giving back is actually more rewarding than taking,” Everett added.
George’s hobby isn’t just fun because he can look for treasure. His mother says that the hobby has taught him a lot about how water pollution affects wildlife in the area. “George is very environmentally conscious. He always has been since primary school,” she said. “When he first started to do this, he was after treasure. Everything ends up in the rivers and canals.”