Strange Double-Take in Texas Tale

It's a Texas Two-Step -- Strange Inheritance style.

Two viewers of the FOX Business show wrote independently to host Jamie Colby, suggesting their inheritances would be a good topic for the program. The show’s producers eventually discovered they converged into a single story.

“Double-Barreled Texas Tale” -- complete with a surprising ending -- is one of two Strange Inheritance episodes premiering Monday beginning at 9PM/ET on FBN.

Garland Richards inherited a ranch about 50 miles outside Abilene, Texas. On it, a 150-year old U.S. Army Fort lay in ruins. He vowed to restore it. It would not be easy.

“This may be financially one of the dumbest things that I have ever done,” Richards said.

Not far away, another viewer, Roy Roberson, inherited from his father two locked safes that took him years to open.

“He came up with this combination that was very complicated, it was like a Rubik’s Cube puzzle,” Roberson explained. “We didn’t know how many rotations, and then he left out a few numbers. I think that was one of his final practical jokes on me.” When Roberson finally got the safes open, he discovered a cache of nearly 200 antique firearms, including a complete collection of every historic Winchester – the rifle that won the West.

The collection was valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Then came the strange part for the Strange Inheritance producers.

"Our story development team believed both stories would make terrific episodes," said series Executive Producer Jonathan Towers. “It was only while researching the details that we learned the stories were intimately related."

They discovered the gun collector was close friends with Garland Richards – and in fact helped him restore the old Texas fort.

In each broadcast, Colby invites viewers to send her their Strange Inheritance stories.  Garland’s and Roberson’s are not the first Towers has turned into an episode.  Another is Ghost Town Gold Mine, which will also air Monday, in a 10:30PM/ET encore presentation.