TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (52)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Associated Press (from Tuesday, February 14; link good at time of posting):

A man staged his own disappearance in the Bighorn Mountains after losing $40,000 on a Super Bowl bet, police said Monday.

Marvin Hackworth, 46, of Gillette, was reported missing on Feb. 6, the day after the Super Bowl, according to the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office.

. . . .

The search was suspended Wednesday evening due to lack of clues or any evidence of where he might have been.

On Friday, police received a call from a person identifying herself as Hackworth's daughter, saying she had received a voice mail message from her father saying he was OK, police said.

Police traced the call to Chadron, Neb., which is about 200 miles from Gillette, and they found Hackworth.

Turns out Hackworth had stashed a new pick up truck in the mountains before the Super Bowl in order to "disappear for a while" in case he lost the bet, police said.

"Hackworth said he knew he had to do something, because he was getting in so deep financially due to gambling losses. If he won on the Super Bowl game, it would have all worked out, but if he lost, he had everything in place now to disappear," Big Horn County Sheriff Dave Mattis told the Northern Wyoming Daily News.

. . . .

Mattis said he has not decided whether he will seek restitution for the expense of the search and rescue operation.

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