Corbino v. United States

Plaintiffs brought this suit for a portion of the value of derelict goods which they recovered under a contract entered into with the General Services Administration. The case is presently before us on the defendant’s motion to dismiss the petition for failure to state a claim within this court’s jurisdiction.

Plaintiffs believed they knew where to locate valuable derelict goods on government property within the confines of the DeSoto National Wildlife Befuge, in the Missouri Biver Valley. The goods were on the steamboat “Bertran/I” which allegedly sank on April 1, 1865, in Bertrand Bend,…