PENNSYLVANIA - Deep in the quiet woods of Elk County, Pennsylvania, a 160-year-old mystery has re-ignited into a modern-day battle involving treasure hunters, the FBI, and allegations of a massive government cover-up. The question at the heart of it all: Did the FBI actually find a legendary stash of lost Civil War gold in 2018, load it onto armored trucks in the dead of night, and then lie to the public about it?
While the FBI officially claims their excavation came up empty, court documents and new eyewitness accounts tell a much different, and more suspicious, story.
The Legend of the Dents Run Gold
The story begins in the summer of 1863. As legend has it, the Union Army was transporting a massive shipment of gold bullion—some say up to 52 bars weighing 50 pounds each—from Wheeling, West Virginia, to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. To avoid Confederate troops, the wagon train took a rugged northern route through the Pennsylvania wilds.
Somewhere near Dents Run in Elk County, the shipment vanished. The soldiers guarding it were allegedly ambushed or succumbed to illness, and the gold was buried to keep it safe. It has supposedly remained hidden there ever since, becoming Pennsylvania’s ultimate lost treasure.
For decades, treasure hunters have scoured the hills. But one father-son team, Dennis and Kem Parada of the group Finders Keepers, spent years honing in on a specific site using high-powered metal detectors. Convinced they had found the gold's resting place, they did what they thought was right: they contacted the FBI.
The 2018 Dig: What Really Happened?
The FBI took the Paradas' claims seriously. In March 2018, federal agents descended on Dents Run. According to unsealed court documents, the FBI's own scientific testing detected an underground metallic mass weighing seven to nine tons—with a density that matched gold. Based on this, a federal judge approved a warrant to excavate the site.
What happened next is where the story fractures.
The FBI’s official stance is that the dig was a bust. They claim they excavated the site and found absolutely nothing.
However, the treasure hunters and local locals paint a different picture. The Paradas, who led the FBI to the site, were largely kept away from the digging area. They, along with nearby residents, reported hearing heavy machinery, like backhoes and jackhammers, operating through the night—well outside the 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. window allowed by the warrant.
New Witnesses and Armored Trucks
The mystery deepened with recent accounts from new witnesses. Two men who were in the woods nearby before sunrise on the second day of the dig reported hearing loud clanging noises. Later that day, they saw a convoy of unmarked federal vehicles, including armored trucks, leaving the area.
One witness told the Associated Press that one of the armored trucks appeared to be heavily weighed down, sitting much lower on its suspension than the others.
This has fueled the leading theory among skeptics: the FBI found the gold during an illicit overnight dig, loaded it onto trucks before morning, and then presented an empty hole to the treasure hunters and the public the next day.
The Legal Battle Continues
Dennis Parada isn't giving up. He has waged a years-long legal battle under the Freedom of Information Act to force the FBI to release all records related to the dig.
While some photos and documents have been released under court order, thousands of pages and key video footage remain sealed. The FBI has argued that releasing more information could damage national security or reveal law enforcement techniques.
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For now, the truth remains buried deeper than any gold. Was it a high-tech wild goose chase, or did the federal government pull off one of the greatest heists in American history right in the sprawling woods of Pennsylvania? The answer may yet lie in the sealed files of the FBI.
