A retired agent turned true crime author and podcaster claims the FBI allegedly stole a Civil War treasure worth $41 million.
“This is a conspiracy theory that keeps me up at night,” said retired FBI Special Agent Stewart Fillmore. Treasure hunter Dennis Parada tipped off the FBI in 2018 to the Civil War treasure, claiming he had found buried gold. However, when the FBI investigated, they said “nothing was found” after a three-day search. Parada claimed in 2023 that the FBI allegedly distorted key evidence and withheld records of the investigation.
The FBI staunchly defended its handling of the case and the materials obtained from it.
The Civil War treasure that has stirred up controversy
The treasure, worth around $41 million in today’s currency, was on its way to the Philadelphia Mint when it suddenly disappeared. The secret Confederate organization, the Knights of the Golden Circle, was accused of stealing it and burying it to disrupt Union efforts. Indeed, in US Army War documents it is claimed that the lost treasure would have supported the Union’s “enormous cost of conducting the war.”
Parada, who worked with the FBI during their three-day investigation to discover the treasure, said that he felt he was tricked. According to Filmore, Parada and the FBI were looking for “a large mass of some kind at the site underground.”
“We feel we were double-crossed and lied to,” said Parada in 2023.
Filmore said that the FBI was using high-tech equipment to find the hidden gold that was supposedly underground and finds it hard to believe they couldn’t find a thing. According to the AP, videos and footage that have been released may indicate that the FBI could have mishandled the case.
“I don’t understand why the site survey shows the presence of gold, a large mass under the ground, and then they find absolutely nothing,” Filmore said on TikTok.
Parada claims he found the treasure in 2018, using a ground-penetrating radar that allowed him to look below the surface of the forest. He discovered a large mass he suspected of being a cache of gold.
Parada sought the FBI’s assistance because the Civil War treasure could have been on public land. The FBI conducted tests and found a mass of around nine tons and a density similar to gold. They then showed up with more than 50 agents and construction equipment to dig around 12 feet deep. According to the FBI, the search was a failure, but that’s not what Parada believes.
Anne Weismann, Parada’s attorney, told the Daily Mail that the logging of what was a federal investigation was unusual
“From a forensic perspective, you would think that they would use the time and date stamp,” said Weismann. “To me, that’s a big oversight”