I just saw the offbeat 1980 Paul le Mat flick (“Melvin and Howard”). The premise of the movie is that Dummer picked up a disheveled old bum, in the Nevada desert, and gave him a ride into Las Vegas. The “bum” turned out to be Howard Hughes, the reclusive billionaire who (at that time) owned most of Las Vegas; who later rewarded Dummer by naming him in his will.
Was Dummer’s story a total fabrication? If not, what was Hughes doing out in the desert, all alone?
Did Dummer ever collect a dime from the Hughes estate?
While virtually no one believed any part of Dummar’s story for many years after the tale became public, a few years back some new, somewhat credible info came to light, showing that Dummar may have actually found Hughes in the Nevada desert, and picked him up and drove him into Vegas.
Even if this did happen, it is still apparent to just about everybody that the “will” Dummar obviously cooked up was a laughable forgery.
I think that Dummar still lives here in the Salt Lake area, working as a handyman, still hoping that he will see his reward someday…
Dummar didn’t get a cent as the result of a fierce court battle with Hughes relatives; in court the encounter was ruled a hoax. But there’s evidence that he might have been telling the truth.
One group of people believed his story–crooks. IIRC he was repeatedly robbed and/or had his home broken into by people who thought he had gotten the money.