yeah, he committed a lot of fraud. he did this to me, did that. lock him up. i don't think that would have gone over too well. >> reporter: and then, to make matters worse, the trail went cold. dennis standefer slipped away. but back in los angeles, diver kirk shaffer, who worked with standefer, remembered a box the treasure hunter left behind months before. shaffer dug it out of storage. and what he found inside would set karl ryll on a very different path. in the box, shaffer says, were photos of standefer with someone who appeared to be an underaged filipina girl. photos suggesting a romantic relationship. >> the girl, she had no mother and father. she was being raised by her grandparents. and somehow they got connected. i think it was through correspondence and they met. >> reporter: in 1999, during a school break, karl headed back to the philippines alone.