Author of Capones Vault Says Capone's Missing Millions May Still Be Hidden--40 Years After the Mystery of Capones Vaults

CHICAGO — As the 40th anniversary of the famous live television event The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults approaches, National Bestselling author William ElliottHazelgrove says the legendary Chicago gangster's missing fortune may still be out there. On April 21, 1986, more than 30 million viewers tuned in to watch journalist Geraldo Rivera open a sealed vault beneath Chicago's Lexington Hotel in what became one of the most anticipated broadcasts in television history. The nationally syndicated special, The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults, remains the highest-rated syndicated television event ever aired. When the vault was finally opened live on television, however, the results stunned viewers. Instead of the rumored treasure, the vault appeared largely empty. But according to Hazelgrove, author of the new book Capone's Vault, the empty vault did not necessarily solve the mystery of Al Capone's missing fortune. "The vault was only one lead in a much larger mystery," Hazelgrove says. "Capone generated enormous amounts of cash during Prohibition, and much of that money was never accounted for. The empty vault actually deepened the legend rather than ending it." Hazelgrove's book examines the dramatic events behind the famous television special, including the planning of the broadcast, the intense public anticipation, and the aftermath of one of the most talked-about moments in television history. Based on extensive research and interviews with the producers of the program as well as Geraldo Rivera, the book explores how the broadcast helped usher in the era of modern reality television. Four decades later, the legend of Capone's hidden fortune still fascinates Chicagoans and historians alike. Stories of buried cash, secret hiding places, and lost mob money have circulated for decades, keeping the mystery alive long after the famous vault was opened.

Capones Vault Prologue

It was cold for April. Even for Chicago. The temperature had plunged to the twenties. Michigan Avenue still had the feel of Christmas with the twinkling lights of horse-drawn carriages for tourists who wanted to tour the Magnificent Mile. Further down on the South Side, crane-high movie lights blazed on an old hotel at 2135 South Michigan Avenue. Men in yellow hardhats spoke outside with their breath illuminated in the light. Diesel-puffing satellite trucks parked up and down the street. The whop whop whop of a helicopter began to get louder. Michigan Avenue was blocked off with crowds of people behind barricades. Mr. T was in the front of the crowd in his trademark gold chains and mohawk. Vendors sold T-shirts that proclaimed i was there when capone’s vault opened. They sold out in minutes. Reporters from all over the world stood around as the helicopter became deafening and everyone looked up. The flashing strobes suddenly appeared in front of the hotel. Then the helicopter with the camera poking out landed on Michigan Avenue. Geraldo Rivera appeared in the front door of the Lexington Hotel as a crane camera moved in. It was Monday, 8 p.m. Eastern in New York and 7 Central in Chicago and people around the world were locked in place in front of their televisions. Geraldo looked like he was breathing smoke in a half-zipped blue coat with a white shirt and tie. He looked at the camera with his trademark Groucho mustache and pointed with his finger. “I’m Geraldo Rivera and you are about to witness a live television event, a massive concrete vault has been discovered, and some think it belongs to none other than the notorious Al Capone. Well, tonight for the first time that vault is going to be opened. . . . LIVE!”

Why I Wrote Evil on the Roof of the World

Prologue Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin quit their Washington jobs and on July 17, 2017, began a bike trip around the world. On July 29, 2018, they biked along Highway A 385 in the Danghara District after biking through the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan along with five other cyclists. The Pamir Highway climbs to elevations of 15,000 feet and was once known as the Silk Road. One hundred kilometers south of the capital of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, five ISIS terrorists ran the cyclists down with a South Korean Daewoo sedan and brutally murdered the two Americans along with a Dutch national and a Swiss citizen. Newspapers, radio stations, and television stations in the United States and around the world would pick up the story of the two twenty-nine-year-old Americans and speculate how two highly educated, well-connected millennials from Washington, DC, had crashed into the homicidal sights of ISIS terrorists on a remote mountain highway in Tajikistan. I read Jay and Lauren’s story in the New York Times in 2018, shortly after it happened. I was intrigued. Not so much by the horrifying way they died, but the crashing together of different cultures on a deserted mountain highway in Tajikistan. I was also intrigued by what motivated Jay and Lauren to leave well-paying Washington jobs and take the road less traveled. After writing a proposal for the publisher and digging into some research, I found Jay’s declaration that “he didn’t want to waste his years in front of a small rectangular screen at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, retire at sixty-five, and then die ten years later.” This resonated with me; it fit in with Americans who have thrown a conventional life aside to pursue a life less certain. Jay and Lauren’s desire for adventure or a different American dream fits the pantheon of people looking for something beyond the safe confines of a world without risk. American history is littered with adventurers, from Amelia Earhart’s daring aerial exploration to Teddy Roosevelt heading West to the Badlands, to Jack London’s famous trek into the Yukon, to Mark Twain lighting out for the territories, to Thomas Stevens, who in 1887 biked around the world on a big wheel bicycle, all the way back to Thoreau, and up to the present day of Chris McCandless’s journey into the wilds of Alaska.

Rave Publishers Weekly Review of Evil on the Roof of the World

Novelist and historian Hazelgrove (Hemingway's Attic) recounts the fate of American cyclists Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin, who were slain by terrorists in Tajikistan in 2018, in this chilling true crime tale. Drawing from the couple's blog and interviews with their friends and family, Hazelgrove portrays Jay as a charismatic idealist who convinced Lauren to give up her job to follow him on a four-year bike trip around the globe, beginning in South Africa and ending in South America. In Africa, they faced charging elephants, flies, and malaria; in Europe, they dealt with suspicious officials and a few gnarly crashes. Still, they pushed forward for two years, winding up in Central Asia's Pamir Mountains (nicknamed the "Roof of the World"). In Tajikistan, a group of young men radicalized by ISIS stalked and ambushed the couple after encountering them on a highway; four were then killed by local police, while the ringleader died in an American prison. Hazelgrove's prose is utilitarian ("Jay and Lauren ride on into Botswana, which proves to be flat, arid, wild, and hot"), letting the facts of the case carry the narrative forward. For the most part, the approach pays off, lending the account an unsettling air. Readers will be aghast. Photos. (Nov.)

Bloomsbury to Pulblish William Elliott Hazelgrove's Gripping New Nonfiction of Cycling Couple Murdered by ISIS

CHICAGO, IL, August 29, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On November 13, 2025, Bloomsbury Publishing will release Evil on the Roof of the World, the latest book from acclaimed author William Elliott Hazelgrove. This harrowing true account follows the journey of two young American dreamers whose search for adventure ended in tragedy on one of the most remote highways in the world. On a bleak stretch of road in the mountains of Tajikistan, known as "the roof of the world," in July 2018, Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin—along with two other cyclists—were brutally murdered by five ISIS terrorists. Both Georgetown University graduates, Lauren and Jay had left behind promising careers in Washington, DC, to pursue a bold vision of the American Dream: biking around the globe in search of connection, beauty, and meaning. Drawing from their Simply Cycling travel blog, social media posts, intimate interviews with friends and family, and worldwide media coverage of the murder, Hazelgrove reconstructs the arc of their story. From hopeful beginnings to the challenges and triumphs on the road, from the haunting foreshadowing of danger to the devastating attack itself, Evil on the Roof of the World presents a deeply human narrative of love, adventure, and vulnerability in the face of extremism. "This book is about more than a single act of violence," Hazelgrove says. "It's about what it means to chase a dream into the unknown—and how that dream collided with the darkest forces of our time." Like Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, Hazelgrove's book explores the intersection of youthful idealism, risk, and fate. Blending travel adventure with true crime, it offers a sensitive yet unflinching look at how Jay and Lauren lived, what they hoped to find, and how the world made sense of their loss. William Elliott Hazelgrove is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books of fiction and nonfiction. Known for his fast-paced narrative style and deeply researched storytelling, Hazelgrove's work often explores the intersection of history, culture, and the human spirit. His nonfiction titles include Madam President: The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson, Sally Rand: American Sex Symbol, Greed in America: The Real Story of Our Century, and Evil on the Roof of the World (Bloomsbury, 2025). His fiction works include the bestselling novel The Pitcher, along with Tobacco Sticks, Real Santa, and Rocket Man. Hazelgrove's books have been widely reviewed and featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, People, Chicago Tribune, and on NPR's All Things Considered. He has appeared on NBC, CBS, PBS, and C-SPAN, and his works have been optioned for film and television. A Chicago native, Hazelgrove was formerly the Writer-in-Residence at the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace, where he worked in Hemingway's attic writing studio. His writing has earned critical acclaim for blending historical depth with the compelling drive of fiction, often compared to the works of Erik Larson and Jon Krakauer.

Is the World too Dangerous to Travel Now?

My book Evil on the Roof of the World is about Jay Austin and Lauren Geohegan who decided to travel around the world in 2017. They quit their jobs and for a year planned their trip. They checked the State Department travel advistories that said the places they were planning to bike thorugh were safe. They paid close attention to the advisory on Tajikistan which borderes Afghanistan. Still the State Department advisory said it was safe. So they biked through Africa and Europe and had a few problems but nothing life threatening. Lauren felt that New York City was just as dangerous or more so than Tajikistan. When they entered the Pamir Mountains known also as The Roof of the World they were excited. This scenic route through the clouds was a the high point of their trip and again when they checked the State Department site there were no new warnings. On July 29 2018 they were spotted by ISIS terrorists who followed the couple then mowed them down with their car and attacked with butcher knives. When I was researching the book with friends and family I asked many times if Jay and Lauren were concerned about the risks of their trip. Jay blogged about the risks before they left saying without risk there is no adventure. When they stopped and stared across a river at Afghanistan Lauren expressed her fear to a fellow cyclist,Kim Potsma. She was scared but they had been biking a full year and while they had some dangerous encounters they had managed to stay on course and nothing had really threatened their lives. But now they had been killed at the hands of ISIS and social media went wild on how foolish, stupid, and arrogant these two millenials were to belive they could bike anywhere they wanted in the world. Many people took offence and saw the two Georgetown Graduates as emblematic of an entitled generation that felt the rules did not apply to them. Some people who posted were gleefully cruel. The Washington Post examined Lauren and Jays decision to bike through Afghanistan and asked the question if they were niave in their view of the world. Jay had famously said he did not belive in evil as a concept. Many in the blogosphere roasted him for this assertion. The Post concluded they were not niave and knew the risks and had taken all precautions. Their deaths were a large part due to bad luck. Destiny is a lonely word and to say they were destined to meet up with terrorists is a hard thing to get our heads around. I go back to Jays assertion that without risk there is no adventure. The State Department after the attack elevated the risk level on Tajikistan. Still, thousands of people bike the Pamir highway every year. It is a great adventure. Evil on the Roof of the World is due out in November

The Millenial Who Didnt Buy into the Thirty Year Grind

I read Jay and Lauren’s story in the New York Times in 2018, shortly after it happened. I was intrigued. Not so much by the horrifying way they died, but the crashing together of different cultures on a deserted mountain highway in Tajikistan. I was also intrigued by what motivated Jay and Lauren to leave well-paying Washington jobs and take the road less traveled. After writing a proposal for the publisher and digging into some research, I found Jay’s declaration that “he didn’t want to waste his years in front of a small rectangular screen at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, retire at sixty-five, and then die ten years later.”1 This resonated with me; it fit in with Americans who have thrown a conventional life aside to pursue a life less certain. Jay and Lauren’s desire for adventure or a different American dream fits the pantheon of people looking for something beyond the safe confines of a world without risk. American history is littered with adventurers, from Amelia Earhart’s daring aerial exploration to Teddy Roosevelt heading West to the Badlands, to Jack London’s famous trek into the Yukon, to Mark Twain lighting out for the territories, to Thomas Stevens, who in 1887 biked around the world on a big wheel bicycle, all the way back to Thoreau, and up to the present day of Chris McCandless’s journey into the wilds of Alaska.