In the course of the 16-year search, he lost his beloved son and daughter-in-law due to shipboard equipment failures. He also was sued by the US government over the ownership of his discovery.
十六年挖掘期間，他曾因船隻機械故障失去鍾愛的兒子、媳婦；也曾因尋獲寶物的所有權，遭聯邦政府提起訴訟。