I will readily admit that I’ve been a bit obsessed with the story of the Finders Keepers treasure hunters and the lost shipment of civil war gold they claim the FBI stole from them ever since the story first broke almost two years ago. What’s not to like? It’s a tale that has all the makings of a Hollywood script. A stolen shipment of tons of gold bars that was allegedly buried in a cave in rural Dents Run, Pennsylvania. A government agency acting in a shady fashion in the dark of night. It was an instant classic. Now the court case brought by Dennis Parada seeking to force the FBI to release all of their records from the event appears to be nearing its end. A federal judge is preparing to rule on whether the Bureau will have to turn over all of the remaining documents, photographs, and video that it has refused to deliver despite multiple FOIA requests. So will this story end with a bang or a whimper? (Associated Press)

The court-ordered release of a trove of government photos, videos, maps and other documents involving the FBI’s secretive search for Civil War-era gold has a treasure hunter more convinced than ever of a coverup — and just as determined to prove it.

Dennis Parada waged a legal battle to force the FBI to turn over records of its excavation in Dents Run, Pennsylvania, where local lore says an 1863 shipment of Union gold disappeared on its way to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. The FBI, which went to Dents Run after sophisticated testing suggested tons of gold might be buried there, has long insisted the dig came up empty.

The first trove of photos and documents that the FBI grudgingly released in May of last year didn’t shed much light on the incident and seemed very suspicious. Most of the documents were historical in nature and the vast majority of the more than 900 photos they released were of places other than the site of the dig. The few photos taken at the site showed a backhoe and an unimpressive hole that appeared to be only four feet deep or so.

As I’ve stated previously, the FBI’s responses thus far have been pretty much nonsensical. They’ve also sounded defensive and seemingly offended that anyone would suspect them of any wrongdoing. Keep in mind that this story kicked off well before we learned of all of the apparent corruption inside the Bureau and the way their agents have meddled in our elections.

If the FBI’s story is accurate, they showed up to dig for the gold and the dig came up empty. If that’s the case, why in the world would they keep tens of thousands of documents and photos classified? What’s so classified about an empty hole in the ground? Are they afraid that our Chinese or Russian adversaries might learn that we have backhoe technology? And why did they keep the treasure hunters away from the site while they were digging on public property?

Their story also fails to explain the dozens of trips that were made by multiple dump trucks and construction equipment all through the night, as reported by residents in the area. If you simply dug a four-foot hole in the ground, what were you hauling away? The entire story stinks like last week’s fish. The FBI’s own metallurgists said that they detected a “very high-density subsurface target” in a low-density area, suggesting “a massive body in a small cave.” That matches the legend of the buried gold to a tee.

As far as I’m concerned, and until they can somehow prove otherwise, the FBI stole that gold and lied to treasure hunters, the press, and the public about it. Nine tons of gold doesn’t just disappear and then reappear somewhere else without there being some record of it. I smell a rat, and the recent revelations about the Bureau’s shady activities only make me more convinced than ever.