By Tim Binnall
In the latest twist in a bitter battle over a 2018 FBI dig for an apocryphal cache of Civil War gold, a pair of newly emerged witnesses have come forward to suggest that the search was a success. The contentious case began five years ago when, at the direction of treasure hunter Dennis Parada, federal agents excavated a spot in a Pennsylvania state park where he believed a legendary horde of lost gold bars had been buried. The FBI subsequently claimed that their search came up empty, leading a skeptical Parada to launch a legal fight which continues to this day. Now, two men who happened to be in the area during the dig have come forward to cast additional doubt on the federal government's version of events.
Eric McCarthy, who operates a business wherein he provides professional assistance to people looking to acquire antlers which have been shed by elk in the wilderness, revealed to the Associated Press that he was working with a client in the general vicinity of the FBI dig back in March of 2018 and caught sight of some of the work as well as what may be an indication of its outcome. According to him, while exploring a mountain ridge in the early morning of the second day of the government's search, he spotted the excavation from around 1,200 feet away. Although he did not see any gold, McCarthy says that he observed a variety of equipment being used and mused that "it looked to me like they were wrapping up a dig."
Later in the day, he and his client made an even more tantalizing observation as, during a break from their search for antlers, a group of government SUVs and armored trucks drove past them. One of the latter set of vehicles, the wilderness guide recalled, appeared to be heavily weighted to the point that he marveled that it seemed to be "loaded to the gills." His client, Don Reichel, echoed that recollection, telling the AP that the two witnesses "both made the comment that one must be loaded." As one might imagine, the FBI disputes the duo's account and claims that, in fact, there were no armored cars used in the operation.
Setting aside the matter of the allegedly loaded armored truck, McCarthy's early morning observation of excavation equipment operating at the site appears to upend the FBI's stated timeline of events that day, which asserts that such activity did not take place until hours later. The story also bolsters the treasure hunters' contention that the federal government conducted a clandestine overnight dig which proved to be successful and was then subsequently covered-up. To that end, while it remains to be seen if the two witnesses will factor into the ongoing legal batter over what exactly unfolded back in 2018, their accounts serve to fuel suspicions surrounding the FBI's claim and, yet again, leave one wondering if maybe they really did find that lost Civil War gold.