Boy, six, solves almost decade-long robbery case

A six-year-old boy helped crack open a nearly decade-old robbery case when he reeled in a locked safe from the bottom of a South Carolina lake.

Knox Brewer, of Johns Island, took up “magnet fishing” and began hunting for metal objects underwater as a way to pass time during the coronavirus pandemic, his family members told WCIV-TV this week.

The boy was out with his family at Whitney Lake this month when the magnet attached to his line stuck to something heavy in the mud below, the news outlet reported.

Boy solves robbery mystery
The boy was out with his family at Whitney Lake this month when the magnet attached to his line stuck to a safe in the mud below Source: AP

With the help of a bystander, Knox pulled in and pried open what turned out to be a waterlogged lockbox containing debris-covered jewellery and credit cards, as well as a chequebook, according to a video of the discovery.

“I knew the right thing to do was go ahead and call the local authorities, get them involved and try to solve this mystery,” the child’s father, Jonathan Brewer, told the outlet.

Authorities determined the sunken safe belonged to a woman who lived across the street from the lake.

She said it had been stolen from her home eight years ago, the outlet reported.

The young boy was fishing when he discovered a locked safe stolen from a nearby neighbour 10 years ago.
Knox Brewer next to the safe he pulled out of a lake in South Carolina. Source: AP

While most of the expensive items had been taken, the find still turned out to be a valuable catch, according to the Brewers.

They said they were able to reunite her with charms from an old bracelet.

“The first thing that she did was just kneel down, hug Knox and thanked him and thanked him for bringing that closure to her,” Jonathan Brewer said.

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