Larson's post-win life was a spiral of increasingly bold fraud. He ran a multi-level marketing shell company called Pleasure Time Incorporated with bogus Native American lottery investments that allegedly defrauded 20,000 people of $3 million. When the SEC finally caught up with the scheme in 1995, it was the agency's first ever serious internet fraud case.
Where this was said
At 39:48 · chapter starts 37:50
Whatever post-win serenity Michael Larson might have enjoyed was short-lived. A Dayton, Ohio radio station was running a serial-number contest: if the serial number on your dollar bill matched the one the DJ read on air, you won $30,000. Larson's response was characteristic: go big or don't bother [1] — Host "After his win, Larson withdrew $100,000 in $1 bills from five banks to hunt for a winning radio serial number. It didn't work. While he and…" 38:00 . He withdrew $100,000 in singles — requiring five separate bank visits to accumulate that many small bills — and he and Teresa spent weeks sifting through the cash looking for the magic serial number. They didn't find it. Eventually they returned half to the bank. The remaining $50,000 in loose bills was still scattered around the house when, one night, they left for a Christmas party. When they returned, the back door had been kicked in and the money was gone. The robbery was never solved. Larson's response to the theft was revealing: he became deeply paranoid, accusing Teresa of orchestrating or enabling the burglary. He began standing at the foot of the bed at night, staring at her while she slept. Teresa, fearing for her safety, left him. He was, she later reflected, out of her life forever.
After his win, Larson withdrew $100,000 in $1 bills from five banks to hunt for a winning radio serial number. It didn't work. While he and Teresa were at a Christmas party, burglars broke in and stole $50,000 in loose bills. The theft destroyed the marriage — Larson accused Teresa of stealing it, and she feared for her life.
After his win, Larson withdrew $100,000 in $1 bills from five different banks to search for matching serial numbers in a radio station contest.
Approximately $50,000 in loose cash was stolen from Larson's home while he and his wife Teresa were at a Christmas party.
In a 1994 Good Morning America interview, Larson claimed it took him 6 months to fully memorize all the Press Your Luck prize board patterns.
A man used ChatGPT as a de facto lawyer, sharing self-incriminating details in his chats. When the transcripts were subpoenaed, the judge ruled no attorney-client privilege applied and admitted the chats as evidence against him. AI first passes are useful — treating AI as your counsel is dangerous.
CIA operative Edwin Wilson armed Muammar Gaddafi with 10,000 machine guns and 20 tons of C4 hidden in barrels of mud and flew them to Libya himself. He was sentenced to 52 years and served 12 in solitary. He was also a founder of the same arms network Oliver North contracted for the Contras.
Kim Dotcom's legal nightmare had nothing to do with copyright infringement. He donated to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange — and the US government charged him under RICO statutes, seeking 186 years in prison as payback.
More than a decade after his indictment, the US is still trying to extradite Kim Dotcom from New Zealand — even after he suffered a stroke. He cannot be convinced the authorities are on his side; only the legal process, run by his lawyers, keeps him free.
The illegal wildlife trade and the drug trade aren't just parallel industries — they actively overlap. Smugglers force-fed cocaine to boa constrictors to evade customs, packed drugs beneath layers of live animals in crates with spitting cobras on top, and exploited the chronic under-resourcing of US Fish and Wildlife inspection teams.
Mario Tabraue was sentenced to over 100 years in prison for murder and drug trafficking. He served 12. Nobody — not even the DEA agent who put him there — knows why he got out. That agent, Larry Lovelace, now lives in rural West Virginia with a gun within reach every night, still expecting retaliation.
Anson Wong from Malaysia was the Pablo Escobar of the global reptile trade, supplying rare animals — including Komodo dragons — to buyers across the world. He was caught in a sting, extradited to the US, and served the longest wildlife crime sentence at the time. The animals seized from him went on to stock some of America's biggest zoos.
Zelig Williams landed a role in Hamilton at just 19 while still in college — a rare achievement in a world where most Broadway dreams die young. By 28 he was a veteran ready to mentor the next generation, until he disappeared without a trace on October 3, 2024.
Season 5 of Dateline: Missing in America brings six new unsolved mysteries. The show is explicitly asking listeners to engage — because a detail someone remembers might be the break investigators need.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.