Dennis and Kem Parada have spent years prospecting for a legendary stash of Civil War gold in Dents Run, Pennsylvania.
They aren’t the first to search for the cache. Generations of treasure hunters have tried to find the gold, which is believed to have been lost or stolen around the time of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, when the Union Army was attempting to transport it from West Virginia to Philadelphia.
The Paradas spent five years digging in a cave on state land and two more years drilling atop the cave before going to the FBI in January with their evidence.
Last March, feeling quite certain they had found the treasure’s hiding place, the Paradas led the FBI to the spot.
They showed agents how their sophisticated metal detector went crazy when aimed at the spot where they believed the gold was hidden.
Within a month, the FBI had hired an outside firm to conduct an underground scan using a device called a gravimeter. The scan identified a large metallic mass with the density of gold, according to the Paradas and Warren Getler, an author and journalist who’s been working with them, reports the Associated Press.
The Paradas and Getler said the FBI agreed to let them observe the excavation, but then confined them to their car so they were unable to watch the digging.
At the end of the excavation, the FBI led the father-son duo to an empty hole, writes the AP:
They gazed at the pit. Not so much as a glimmer of gold dust, let alone the tons of precious metal they said an FBI contractor’s instruments had detected.
“We were embarrassed,” Dennis Parada told The Associated Press in his first interview since the well-publicized dig last winter. “They walk us in, and they make us look like dummies. Like we messed up.”
But is the FBI being truthful?
Local residents reported seeing late-night excavation work and FBI convoys, leading to suspicions the agency is hiding something.
Now, the Paradas are challenging the FBI’s account of the dig, insisting that something had to have been buried in those woods, as Kem told the AP:
After my years of experience here using equipment, there was something here, something here of value, some kind of precious metal. And whatever it is, it’s gone now. And that’s what I want to get to the bottom of, is what was in that hole.
Naturally, the feds aren’t saying much about the dig, other than claiming they found nothing and adding that the agency’s work there was related to an “ongoing investigation.”
An FBI spokeswoman told the AP that court documents related to the dig are sealed.
“You can only dig the gold up once, and that’s a historical moment. And here we were robbed of all that,” Dennis Parada said. “I don’t understand why they played that game on us.”
“There was definitely some kind of precious metal based on the readings of the instruments at the site,” Cluck said. “The fact they wouldn’t let them be there for the dig, it’s suspicious as hell and it doesn’t have to be.”
In May, Bill Cluck, the Paradas’ lawyer, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents on the FBI’s investigation. The agency claimed it has no files it can share, so Cluck appealed to Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey for help. A few weeks ago, the Justice Department ordered the FBI to do a more thorough review. If the bureau determines there are documents it can turn over after all, it could still take months or years to reach that point.
The Paradas probably shouldn’t hold their breath.
Shit, anyone that would expect anything less from the thieving govt is a fool.
Menzo, the Paradas’ biggest mistake was going to the FBI. They should’ve kept the information to themselves, dug up the gold for themselves, and then sell it for whatever they could get. That’s what I would’ve done. Obviously the FBI dug up that gold and is keeping it in one of their warehouses somewhere.
It would be risky selling the coins. The best way to cash in undetected would be to melt the coins.
spot on! I would have melted it down even if it took me the rest of my days.
Not coins. 50 lb. bars or so they say.
Since when does anyone believe the FBI?????!!!!
Really!
band saw slice em up and sell em
sel the dust first
Why would anyone trust the lying, thieving government…That gold will certaily not show in the U.S. Treasury – LOL … it will be quietly divided up – bet the gold never made it to any government office.
Why the hell would anybody call the criminal, FBI in the first place. Dig it up and keep your mouth shut!
Dumbasses deserve to loose it!
when will people learn you CAN NOT TRUST ANY GOVERMENT ? I would have kept my mouth shut and sold teh gold piece by piece to a private collector. Finders keeps
Yes indeed. First mistake? Contacting, and then putting their trust in the FBI. An agency which has proven to be corrupt, and abusive, not to mention less than truthful. Guess it could have been worse. If they had contacted the ATF .. they would have likely been burned alive in their car ………
-Dr. Shaknbake-
What did they expect ! They were fools to let the FBI in on it in the first place !
Their own fault for involving the FBI.
^^ make that thieving and murdering government.
yep
When people wake up and realize WE outnumber them….
yup, im WITH you on that
The whole world is in the worst debt spiral in history. Governments are desperate for money. Desperate.
So here comes Dennis and Kem Parada, damn fool idiots. Fine. They would have had to have reported their treasure to the government. Fine. Everybody gets that. But what a bunch of idiots. They should have dug up the gold, put it some place safe, hired the best representation they could find, and then reported it.
Rule number one: Keep you big mouths shut. Rule number two: Don’t talk to authorities. Rule number three: Don’t talk to authorities without an attorney present.
Dennis and Kem Parada, these idiots deserved what they got.
They’re not desperate for money.
They are money-loving, money worshiping, greedy bastard thieves, that’s why they get into these positions. But I wouldn’t say desperate. Thirsting and craving to pad their bank accounts is more like it.
Proven Fact: When it comes to money-lovers no amount of money is ever enough. Even if they are a billionaire. Sad but true.
I definitely wouldn’t report it, ever if i could help it. I would sell, small amounts at a time as i needed fiat, and most important of all i would keep my damn mouth shut.
I’m amazed that they were even allowed to dig there in the first place, concidering it is government land. Did they even have permission to, or doing it on the fly.
“I don’t understand why they played that game on us.”
It must feel nice.
UMMMM.”Government” dont own land
WE the People Own this country
That’s right. The bastards just think they own it.
And we the people allow the government to exist.
SPOT ON. No matter how many times we tell the people, so many still don’t understand that the power to regulate our own lives is in our own hands. The federal government’s power are strictly limited, including owning no more than 10 square miles around the capital.
SPOT ON. No matter how many times we tell the people that the power to regulate our own lives are in our own hands, they still fail to see that the federal government’s powers are strictly limited. And that they only land they do own is 10 square miles around the capital.
amen!!!
Now the Paradas can live out the rest of their lives thinking about what might have been. Sucks, doesn’t it?
This is a story, there is really no evidence of any gold being found in it.
No verifiable facts either, other than some gold was stolen during the civil war and that the digging was done on State owned land (making its contents, whatever they are, State property).
sounds like you didn’t read the story….
More like you didn’t.
Mentioned but not able to be validated when it is critical to the story and should be public information:
Permits to dig in a cave on State property.
Permits to drill on top of the cave on State Property.
Name pf the outside organization hired by the FBI and record of both its findings and payments made to it (yes, public record).
Brand name of the “sophisticated metal detector” to both show it has the claimed capabilities and is more than some Chinese made eBay special.
The year they filed -or his claimed lawyer filed- the freedom of information request and then appealed to Pat Toomey, who left office in 2005, for help (note that the article refers to the dig as being done “last winter”).
Which “local residents” reporting seeing “late night” excavations (obviously the FBI had no idea they needed to secure the area to carry on their nefarious activities) and on what road(s) were those “convoys” traveling. Also, to whom did they report it?
Who was the FBI “spokeswoman” and what office did she come from. Spokesmen for the FBI are public figures working out of specific offices and their statements are public record so where is the transcript of her statement to be found?
And more, but I’ll let you adress those details first before going on to them.
Without, at the minimum, those details I have to withhold judgement of the truth of the tale until they are given and have doubts about it. My “fake news” meter is well into the orange and heading toward red at this time.
Say nothing just dig it up and KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.
Sgt.
Exactly!
HUGE mistake getting involved with the federal jack-booted Buffoons, WTF, very very foolish move guys and now, well, you got nothing but torn up rectums. . . . . .
The article says it was last March, yup before Comey was fired… They should contact Tom Fitton at Judicial Watch & give them the info on this. It will add to the pile of corruption by FBI JW is exposing.
The Smithsonian will have their nose in this. Under the guise of cataloging and curating.
Any gold in existence up to (possibly past this as well) EO 6102 is still subject to confiscation.
A couple years ago the feds seized gold from a family that found coins not turned in under the orders.
I’m not saying this is right, but there is precedence.
There were insiders who helped craft the 1933 gold confiscation order. These insiders became very wealthy years later because they had inside knowledge of which coins would be exempt. Unfortunately some Americans turned in their gold out of fear and got screwed big time.
Criminals in suits comes to mind. Some of these coins will end up in a wealthy anonymous buyer’s vault.
I cannot believe they would have even thought about telling the FBI, unless they didn’t have permission in the first place. I sure wouldn’t have. While 250 million is certainly not chump change, but the FBI has about a 9 billion dollar annual budget.
BLM land. They got permits. Tried to do the right thing. Law Enforcement monitoring was part of the deal which since it was Federal land meant FBI.
Bad deal.
There is a lesson there for everybody else.
It was fool’s gold. They were fools for reporting it to anyone but why on Earth the FBI? What does the FBI have to do with it anyway and why would anyone put any faith in them? These folks won’t see a reward or even so much as a thank you for finding it. Can’t have the little people with the shiny stuff when the goobermint needs it more.
proves theres still too many people asleep in this country
Stupid is as stupid does. Keep your damn mouth shut! If I would’ve found so much as a speck of gold dust,no one would have known. As for finding a horde,well,I would figure out some way of melting it down. If found on State or Federal land…..too bad for them,they take enough money from us.
BTW: EO 6102 was repealed in 1974 by President Ford.
I’m not a fan of the FBI but given the insanity of anyone going to the FBI (which has no jurisdiction or authority to investigate this), there is far greater chance that there really was no gold there and that these guys didn’t find anything.
“I don’t understand why they played that game on us.” Said someone stupid enough to trust the FBI.
Must of been those good febee guys. The ones not at the top. Cause as we hear every day, the febee is mostly “good guys”. Like the ones in nevada and oregon who were salivating at the chance to kill their fellow Americans.
more proof that the system is absolutely broken. totally. doing the right thing brings you nothing but heartache, headache and often you end up at the receiving end of legal battles designed to do nothing but break you of all resources and motivation. These guys will have nothing when they are done,probably lose far more than they even already had, instead of shutting up to everyone & anyone, taking all that the hole had to surrender and getting out of dodge (this country) they did the right thing and well….
Ha ha ha….don’t they watch the news…The FBI and CIA are deep state.
I’m sure Trump will step in and help them (not)
Why do people think these deep state characters want so much surveillance? They want to rob us.
FOOLS,FOOLS FOOLS, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT??????? YOU DO NOT TRUST ANY BODY…….SHOULD HAVE DUG IT AND WENT HOME…WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???COMPANY WORKED A GALLON OFF THE COAST PADRE ISLAND NEAR CORPUS CHRISTI.THE STATE TOOK ALL OF IT.BUT THERE WERE TWO SHIPS ,ONE FARTHER DOWN THE COAST THEY WORKED IT AND TOOK ALL THE GOODS BACK TO IND.STUPID STATE NEVER GOT A DIME OUT OF IT.DID NOT KNOW THEY WERE WORKING THAT SITE ALSO.I GOT A BIG LAUGH OUT OF THAT…..SORRY FOR YOU TRUSTING THOSE S O B’S DM
‘
An event where a couple of Americans could have been set for life and many, many lives would have been changed forever but the government steps in and steals the gold and it does nobody any good. I pan & dig for gold often here in Arizona and if I EVER find anything I am not reporting it to any agency! If it’s dust or nuggets it gets sold & if it’s coins it either gets melted down or sold off one at a time on Ebay.
No reason to seal the documents if nothing was there. And why would anybody call the FBI for anything these days???
Really??? And why did they tell the FBI???? Those who trust the government will always be fooled!!!!!
Maybe what the Paradas inadvertantly found, and what the FBI was really looking for, was a different kind of precious metal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apollo_Affair
Distance from Apollo PA to Benezette PA: 100 miles
The density of Uranium only differs from that of gold by about 1%.
“…and adding that the agency’s work there was related to an “ongoing investigation.”
You can count on the fact that they found the gold. The above is what these rats say when they are covering up something big. “We can’t comment because it’s an ongoing investigation and by the way, it will always be ongoing so go away and don’t ask again”.
People spend years looking for old shipwrecks.
Then the state seizes the finds. What’s the difference?
I don’t feel sorry for this couple..WHY would you call the FBI ??? Idiots
Why on earth would you tell the FBI?! Or any branch of the government for that matter! Why would you tell anyone!
FIB is more like it……… NEVER TALK TO A COP FOR ANY REASON AS THEY JUST TWIST AND TURN WHAT EVER YOU SAY. IF YOU SAY NOTHING THEN THEY HAVE NOTHING TO TWIST!
WHAT in the actual PHUQ??!!! You TELL THE FBI??!! OMG, Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerp…….