'Inside Job' Suspected After $4 Million In Gold Taken From Mass.-Bound Truck
WILSON, N.C. (AP) — A search warrant suggests that investigators suspected a multimillion-dollar gold heist from an armored truck was an inside job, though a sheriff said Wednesday that the two guards are not currently considered suspects.
The warrant was written in a hurry before the two guards, who spoke little English, could be thoroughly interviewed in Spanish, Wilson County Sheriff Calvin Woodard said Wednesday during a news conference.
The search warrant, which seeks permission to search the cellphone of the truck's passenger, details the account of the two men in the armored truck. The driver pulled over on the side of Interstate 95 on Sunday when his passenger smelled gas and began to feel sick.
Then, three men pulled up in a white minivan, armed with handguns, and bound both the driver and passenger. Both men were ordered to go into nearby woods.
The three men then opened the trailer and took out five buckets' holding 275 pounds in gold bars, valued at about $4.8 million. The suspects tried to steal the truck but couldn't get it started, even though it was in good working condition.
About $5 million in silver was left on the truck.
"There is suspicion at this time that this could be an inside job due to the circumstances of the robbery," the warrant reads. "The fact that the truck was robbed immediately upon it pulling over at an unannounced stop is suspicious in and of itself. It is also suspicious because there are no markings on the side of the truck that would indicate the type of cargo contained therein."
The guards — working for Transvalue Inc. of Miami — were not injured. The truck had left Miami, bound for a town south of Boston in Massachusetts.
The company is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. The company's website says it specializes in transporting cash, precious metals, gems and jewelry in armored trucks.
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