Recluse dies with $7 million in gold

Carson City recluse Walter Smaszko Junior died with only $200 in his bank account. But as his house was being cleaned and readied for sale, officials made a surprise find: gold coins and bars worth $7 million.

The 69-year-old was found dead in his home late June. He had lived there since the 1960, with his mother until her death in 1992. The coroner said Smaszko died of heart problems, and wasn’t found for at least a month after his death.

Smaszko left no will, and had no close relatives.

“Nobody had any clue he was hoarding the gold,” Carson City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover told the Las Vegas Sun. He says the gold was in boxes throughout the house and garage.

Officials are trying to track down an heir to give the money. They found a cousin in California…but her phone number was disconnected.

Sexy senior steals condoms

An elderly man in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston is facing charges after stealing condoms from a Walgreens and threatening its staff.

The employees say 69-year-old Harry Johnson claimed he had a gun and threatened to shoot them after he was confronted him for stealing Trojans.

According to the BPD blog, Johnson did not have a weapon. He was arrested for unarmed robbery after police found a box of magnums stuffed up the suspect’s shirt, and a half dozen bottles of Nivea lotion in his backpack.

Surprise: Miners Make More Than Harvard Grads

Graduates of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology make nearly $3,000 more per year than Harvard graduates, according to PayScale Inc, which tracks salaries based on surveys.

Most students at the nation’s 14 mining schools are offered jobs before graduating. That’s impressive, as 1 in 10 recent college grads in the US is out of work.

Bloomberg reports a fourfold gain in commodities has kept companies struggling to keep up with surging demand.

There were 28,000 people employed in US metals mining in 2004, down 30,000 employees from just a decade prior. By 2011, that number rebounded to 40,000…but the Society of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration says another 78,000 workers will be needed by 2019 to replace retirees.

What we’ve learned: quit that Ivy league, and study metals.

Nightmare Swimwear Collection

Salvador Dali. Strange and admired surrealist, painter…swimwear designer? At least in 1965, he was.

Texas Mom Jailed For Letting Her Kids Play Outside

Tammy Cooper says she was watching her children from a lawn chair when they took to the cul-de-sac for some playtime with their motor-scooters.

But police weren’t having any of it, and brought her to jail overnight earlier this month for child endangerment.

Charges have been dropped, but La Porte stay-at-home mom Cooper is now suing the police department for jailing her, and suing her neighbor and the arresting officer for damages.

“My daughter had him [the police officer] around the leg saying, “Please, please don’t take my mom to jail. Please, she didn’t do anything wrong,’” Cooper told the station.

She says she chose the neighborhood because it’s safe for the kids to play there.