Keep on looking!!! My Stepfather's dad passed away about 4 years ago and when the family was emptying out the house they found his filling cabinet. My Stepfather was the executor of his estate so he looked through all of the old papers in it. Well he found 3 papers with safe combinations written on them and the location of the safes inside of the house. He went and found all 3 safes and collected the contents. None of his children knew that he even had a single safe but damned if he didn't have 3. One was in the basement under the stair landing covered by a plywood paneling door, another one in attic by the chimney and the last one out in the garage behind a his work bench. They weren't big safes, they were all "wall safes" big enough to fit in between wall studs but they are about 2 feet long.
I wasn't there to see them being found and I have no idea what was inside of them but later my stepdad asked if I wanted a "wall safe". I said yea and I now keep my collections inside of it. They are hefty in weight and have holes to bolt them down and it has a huge dial that goes all the way to 100 and has 8 or 10 bolts that lock the door shut. It is very nice but its not water proof but they probably cost a pretty penny back in the day (I'm thinking 40's or 50's).
I guess what I'm saying is to check every where possible, the basement, garage, under the stairs, every where. If there is a garden in the back yard maybe probe around as the dirt is softer than the compacted dirt in the lawn and even an elderly sickly man can dig deep (deeper than your metal detector can see) in garden dirt. Also check around and in between old rose bushes as they can be very old and can be used as a marker for remembering where he hid things. Or maybe by an old bird bath, or old yard statues, ect.
I hope this helps and I wish you all the luck in the world.
