“Questions Arise Over Missing Video Evidence in FBI’s Civil War Gold Hunt”

Treasure hunters, who have been pursuing the FBI for years over their claim of discovering buried Civil War-era gold, are now raising concerns about missing video evidence related to the 2018 excavation in Pennsylvania.

Finders Keepers, the group that sued the Justice Department for failing to provide records regarding the FBI’s search for the legendary gold, filed a court document on Friday. In it, they pointed out a significant discrepancy in the number of video files associated with the dig. Initially, the FBI stated that there were 17 video files, but now they assert there are only four. The government has not provided an explanation for this inconsistency, leaving the treasure hunters puzzled.

Attorney Anne Weismann, representing Finders Keepers, has raised a critical question: “This raises the obvious question of whether videotapes were destroyed in the interim.” She has requested that a judge compel the FBI to clarify the reasons behind the differing counts of video files.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., responsible for defending the lawsuit filed by the treasure hunters, has declined to comment on the matter of the missing videos.

Throughout the four-year saga, the FBI has maintained that their excavation in March 2018 at a remote woodland site yielded no gold. However, Finders Keepers has consistently accused the government of acting suspiciously and suggested that they are concealing the discovery of gold at the Dent’s Run site.

Weismann emphasizes that the records her clients are seeking, including the videos, are crucial in determining the truth of these claims. These records could potentially confirm or refute the existence of the gold.

The Justice Department has committed to releasing records in monthly batches, with an estimated total of 2,400 pages of records, 1,000 photos, and the missing video material. Weismann has urged the judge to expedite the government’s production of these records.

The treasure hunters, Dennis and Kem Parada, a father-son duo, have dedicated years to the quest for the fabled 1863 Union gold shipment, believed to have been lost or stolen en route to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. Their efforts led them to the Dent’s Run site, 135 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, where their instruments detected a significant metallic object.

Intriguingly, the FBI’s own contractor, using advanced equipment, also reported detecting a massive metallic mass, possibly indicative of gold. This information was revealed in an FBI affidavit unsealed last year upon the request of news organizations, including The Big Big News.

Despite their crucial involvement in identifying the site, the Paradas claim that they were restricted to their vehicle while the FBI conducted the excavation.

Federal officials have consistently delayed responding to the treasure hunters’ requests for information about the excavation, prompting the Freedom of Information Act suit in an attempt to compel the government to produce the requested documents.

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