reporter: deep in grief, karl began to feel it might be time to leave the dream behind. but then, just as before, the treasure hunter reached out with a can t-miss opportunity. e-mailed me that he had found this kris. reporter: kris? kris is a muslim knife. had an ivory handle and had golden silver inlay in the sheath. i saw a picture of it. it looked great. reporter: the kris, dennis told karl, had to be worth $10,000. but he let karl have it for a mere $1,000. dennis gift, if you will, to make up for the money karl had already lost. so, karl sent the money and he sent it gratefully. then dennis e-mailed him again and said, he met some muslim rebels in the southern philippines. and they told him about a sunken ship which contained platinum bars. and if karl would send him a few thousand more, he would go after those bars and both of them would make a lot of money, certainly make up for the money karl lost and then some. already burned and battling death, karl tried to resis
i was doing business with. i considered him a friend. reporter: so, karl ignored his father. he was utterly wrapped up once more in something he considered a dream come true. and in the summer of 1997, he found himself in the philippines again with dennis standefer. while karl was abroad, his father s health already weakened by emphysema continued to deteriorate. and shortly after karl s return to the u.s., his father died. i feel like the last couple of years i had with him were somewhat stolen. reporter: he needed you. yeah. and i should have spent more time with him. i mean, i was working full time. but i would find time to go to the philippines and i didn t i should have gone over to see him more. reporter: deep in grief, karl began to feel it might be time to leave the dream behind. but then, just as before, the treasure hunter reached out with