Stolen Mormon documents may prove/disprove authenticity of the Book of Mormon

The LDS / Mormon Church claims that 116 pages of the early manuscript of the Book of Mormon were lost or stolen from Joseph Smith. If found, they could prove or disprove the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Was the original Manuscript ever found? Did anyone ever try to use it to discredit Smith? Does anyone have any idea where it went?

The official story is as follows:

From scriptures.lds.org... :
There were originally "116 pages of manuscript translated from the first part of the Book of Mormon, which was called the Book of Lehi. "[Joseph Smith] had reluctantly allowed these pages to pass from his custody to that of Martin Harris, who had served for a brief period as scribe in the translation of the Book of Mormon."

From scriptures.lds.org... :
"These manuscript pages had been lost from the possession of Martin Harris, to whom the sheets had been temporarily entrusted." Joseph Smith claimed they had been taken by someone who was waiting for Smith to release a "retranslation of the matter covered by the stolen pages, and then to discredit the translator by showing discrepancies created by the alterations."

[Edited on 29-9-2003 by lonestar]

[Edited on 29-9-2003 by lonestar]

[Edited on 29-9-2003 by lonestar]