Video: Man finds lost Nazi loot on Texas beach
Christopher Davis has been combing the beaches of Texas’ Galveston Island for years.
"Mainly sea beans, old bones, unfortunately, old Coke bottles,” Davis said when asked what he usually finds on his searches.
None of those things are particularly unusual, particularly compared to the finding he made in the San Luis Pass, near Galveston Island, late last month.
"As I was going along, I noticed in that pile, ‘Hey, there's one of those bundles,’" Davis explained.
And there it was.
A giant hunk of dark brown rubber covered in barnacles and drenched in an ungodly smell.
"It was horrible. A horrible stench,” Davis emphasized.
To say Davis was excited would be an understatement. It was the potentially lucrative discovery he was looking for.
"I feel like a kid in a candy store with an unlimited budget,” Davis said.
And he knew exactly what it was.
Serendipitously, the discovery was made on Memorial Day weekend.
Davis had heard stories about pieces of Nazi loot lost during World War II washing up on Texas beaches.
As the story goes, back in 1944, American ships off the coast of Brazil spotted a German blockade runner called the SS Rio Grande.
The USS Omaha and USS Jouet fired on the Nazi ship sending it, and its cargo, 3 miles down to the bottom of the ocean.
The entire loot had remained there until about three years ago when the floating bales of rubber started washing ashore.
What makes the find even more interesting are the tales of treasure — specifically, gold — they may contain.
"I think the gold came from the fact that a lot of people think that [the Nazis on board] would escape to Argentina and so [they were] packing the gold for [them] to have when [they] made it there… if [they] made it there,” Davis said.
Davis and his friends started cutting the rubber open.
Their effort didn't result in gold. Only more of that nasty smell.
If anything, discovering the stinky load of latex has left Davis wanting to find more.
Watch the video above for more on this story.