Treasure Hunters Win $26K From FBI in Gold Dispute

Treasure hunters who say the FBI secretly hauled away Civil War gold from a Pennsylvania hillside have scored a modest but symbolic payoff. The Justice Department has agreed to give Dennis Parada and his son $26,000 to cover legal costs, ending their Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over the bureau's 2018 dig at Dents Run in Elk County. In return, their company, Finders Keepers, will stop seeking additional FBI records tied to the excavation, reports WJAC. The bureau has insisted it found nothing at the site.

The settlement ends one aspect of a long-running dispute. The Paradas say they spent years looking for fabled Union gold, supposedly lost during transport, and informed the FBI of the suspected location. They allege the agency dug up and secured the gold and is now denying it as part of what Dennis Parada calls a "massive cover-up." The FBI denies that. Next up, Parada plans to target the US Mint in Philadelphia for records he believes could reveal whether any gold turned up there after the dig—and he still hopes to one day pursue a finder's fee from the FBI.