GALVESTON, Texas - A contractor clearing hurricane debris from Galveston Island State Park unearthed a box containing a small fortune, and with it, two mysteries - who owns the cash, jewelry, antiques and personal effects and how did they come to be buried on the beach?
Michael Pate, with Atlanta-based Byrd Disaster Relief, has worked in Galveston since Hurricane Ike.
On Jan. 7, Pate, 43, was working on a Bobcat tractor equipped with a grappling arm snatching storm debris from the sand.
"I was on the beach side about 100 to 150 feet from the water," Pate said Monday. "I was raking the sand and saw this snake come out of the pile ... It went right down beside this box."
The green steel U.S. Army ammunition canister caught Pate's eye because the boxes are good for storage, he said.
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"It was heavy, and I said, 'This thing is full of sand,'" Pate said. "I shook the sand off and opened it up. It was unreal!"
The ammo can's rubber seal preserved perfectly the treasures inside: a pair of diamond rings; dog tags; military medals, possibly from the Vietnam War or World War II; an 1863 Confederate $50 bill; silver certificates with serial numbers in consecutive order; silver bracelets; watches; an Art Donovan football card; and a mint condition, glass, Model A Ford radiator cap.
Pate also found family photographs, along with what he thinks is the owner's wallet with a $20 bill, driver's license and Social Security card stuffed inside.
Pate said his upbringing prevented him from keeping the loot.
He figured the owner lost everything in the storm, and learned the man was incarcerated.
Pate said the name listed on the license is John A. Sidwell.
The name is the same as that of a 59-year-old island man serving a two-year state jail sentence following a conviction on intoxication assault charges. The ages, as reported by Pate, match up, too.
On Aug. 7, 2004, Galveston police said one John A. Sidwell struck three pedestrians walking on the seawall. His truck was said to have been traveling about 60 mph when it swerved onto the sidewalk, hit a man and two women and a parked surrey.
The driver reportedly tried to back up and leave the scene with a 41-year-old Pasadena woman still trapped underneath, according to a Daily News article published the following day. A New Orleans man was critically injured.
Bystanders pulled the driver from the truck and detained him until police arrived.
Sidwell's release date from a Dayton prison is April, according to state records.
Pate spoke to a friend of Sidwell, who was thrilled with the news.
"I thought it would be an encouraging story for the community," Pate said. "We've seen so much destruction."
It is unclear what Pate intends to do with the box and its contents.
It is also unclear whether someone buried the box or if the storm demolished a West End house and sunk it in the sand. It is unlikely the box washed from Sidwell's listed address on 31st Street to the park.
