SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. -- Karl Schmitz waited 18 months for this day, a day he worried he'd never see.
We went with Schmitz to pick up the box of lost treasure he’d been searching for since 2016.
Inside the box he found more than a dozen films that contain 80-year-old footage of his grandparents, their travels and his dad’s childhood adventures.
Schmitz last saw the films in 2016 when he turned them over along with $400 to Xtra Medium Productions in Largo. The owner was supposed to convert the film to DVDs.
After a few months, Schmitz says the owner Bill McArdle stopped returning his calls and seemed to disappear. After a year-and-a-half Schmitz made a call for action.
We messaged the Xtra Medium Productions owner via Facebook and left multiple messages. Finally last Thursday, McArdle responded by sending a text to Schmitz saying he’d left the box of films at the Largo Feed Lot which is next door to his shuttered business.
We went with Schmitz and as promised the long lost film was returned. The conversion was never done and the money he spent was gone. But none of that is important to Schmitz, who is relieved and thankful an irreplaceable treasure has been returned.
It Is too late to dispute the credit card charge. Schmitz’s only recourse is to go after the money in small claims court.
