A retired FBI agent has revived interest in an alleged case of stolen Civil War-era gold hidden for over 160 years in Pennsylvania. 'This is a conspiracy theory that keeps me up at night,' confessed retired bureau Special Agent Stewart Fillmore, now a 'true crime' author and podcaster.
![[FBI Agent Jacob Archer said he believed a significant cache of gold is secreted in the underground cave' in Dent's Run, holding 'one or more tons' belonging to the U.S. government']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/11/26/13/44648823-14124269-FBI_Agent_Jacob_Archer_said_he_believed_a_significant_cache_of_g-a-3_1732629159220.jpg)
A treasure hunter claimed he had found buried gold in 2018 and tipped off the FBI to help recover the treasure, but 'nothing was found' after a three-day investigation. The treasure, worth $41 million in today's dollars, had been destined for the Philadelphia Mint in 1863, where it would help support the Union's 'enormous cost of conducting the war,' per official US Army War documents.
![[The FBI based its request for a seizure warrant partly on work done by Dennis (right) and Kem (left) Parada: a father-son pair of treasure hunters who had made hundreds of trips to the area]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/11/26/13/44648821-14124269-The_FBI_based_its_request_for_a_seizure_warrant_partly_on_work_d-a-9_1732629159692.jpg)
But the shipment vanished, allegedly stolen by a Confederate secret society, the 'Knights of the Golden Circle,' who were said to have buried the gold in a rural part of Elk County. The treasure hunter, Dennis Parada, worked with the FBI six years ago, with the agency identifying 'a large mass of some kind at the site underground,' said Fillmore.
![[Fellow treasure hunter Kem Parada has reported that he was told to 'stay in his car' for the duration of the dig (pictured above), preventing him from observing what the FBI was up to]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/11/26/13/92472499-14124269-Fellow_treasure_hunter_Kem_Parada_has_reported_that_he_was_told_-a-7_1732629159506.jpg)
'The FBI also used pretty high-tech equipment, determining there was a presence of gold,' he added. Fillmore's assessment of the mystery is accurate: allegations that FBI officials absconded with any treasure they may have uncovered. According to legend, a Union Army wagon train was carrying two tons of gold on a 400-mile journey between Wheeling, West Virginia, and Gettysburg. The gold was sent by President Abraham Lincoln to pay Union soldiers (pictured, at the Battle of Gettysburg) but first had to stop at the US Mint in Philadelphia.
![[Grainy 'black and white' images released of the dig site by the FBI in 2022 - as a result of their court feuding with local treasure hunters - has only fueled further speculation over what had or hadn't been found in the search for this long lost Union treasure of stolen Civil War gold]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/11/26/15/58431681-14124269-Grainy_black_and_white_images_released_of_the_dig_site_by_the_FB-a-8_1732635811514.jpg)
