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Brad Meltzer Seeks Stolen Treasures, Many With Florida Ties

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A local author is once again making the leap from the best seller list to the television screen. His new show tracks down historical artifacts that have vanished and wouldn't you know it, Florida has ties to a lot of them.

Brad Meltzer's gone from North Miami Beach Senior High to national prominence as an author and TV host.  His latest show, which launches Friday night on Halloween, asks viewers to help him find important historical and cultural items that are missing.

"It's like America's Most Wanted, but with historical documents," Meltzer explained.

Meltzer travels the country, in search of things like the ground zero flag from 9/11, the original footage of Neil Armstrong on the moon, and the pink pillbox hat Jackie Kennedy wore the day JFK was assassinated.

"The stories persist because they say something about us.  We're a country founded on legends and myths," he said.

And more than a few of those mysteriously missing artifacts were in Florida at some point.

"The one thing I've learned more than anything else is that everything that was stolen, has been stolen from here in Florida.

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James Bond's Astin Martin.  The original, not the recreation that you can see at the Miami Auto Museum.

Meltzer explained, "It comes here to Florida, where a real estate developer buys it and stores it in a Boca Raton airport, a private hanger, and then one day it disappears."

He also talks about James Dean's car. After his fatal crash, distraught fans were paying money to see the actual wreckage.

"That famous car that James Dean drove is gone, and the last time anyone sees it is in Florida," he said.

In addition, Meltzer said the missing moon rocks also made their way to the Sunshine State.

"I love my home state of Florida, but we all know it's one of the craziest states."

Brad Meltzer's Lost History debuts Friday night on the H2 (short for History 2).

Each of 10 episodes will present both unsolved cases and success stories in which Americans have helped find missing historic objects.

Viewers will be encouraged to submit tips to an online site.

A reward of up to $10,000 will be offered for information that leads to the recovery of an item. Details about the reward are available at www.history.com.

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