GOLD? BURIED TREASURE NOT WORTH TROUBLE
The family of a man who claims to have found millions of dollars worth of gold and antique guns in a desert cave says he's tired of dealing with the federal government, and plans to just leave the cache where he found it.
"He's having a terrible time with it," Glen Taylor said recently of his son, Scott.
Scott Taylor, 34, has been a virtual recluse since news broke this week on two Salt Lake television stations that he allegedly stumbled across a lost fortune while hiking on public land in west Utah about a month and a half ago.
Taylor told the television stations he found 280 gold bricks with "U.S. Cavalry" stamped on each, two Civil War-era rifles, a six-shooter and dynamite.
"He is the only one who has claimed to see it and knows the location. Until he shares that with somebody, nothing can be verified," Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Laura Williams said in a recent interview.
The problem, the Taylors say, is the federal government's unwillingness to kick over some of the profit as a finder's fee, which they say one Brigham Young University professor estimated should be 40 percent.
"It's not up to us to negotiate," Williams said. "It's not our gold, if it exists.
"If his story is true, and clearly marked, we know who it belongs to, and the Army can take it," she said, adding that Scott Taylor is not returning their phone calls, either.
"We think at this point that the best thing for us to do is not make a comment," said Army spokeswoman Martha Rudd. "It would be too hypothetical. We would have to know a lot more about what's going on."
So, rather than battle this out in court, the Taylors say they will let the gold sit. Taylor couldn't simply claim the gold as a find, Williams said. "If it was ore in the ground, he'd need a mineral permit to remove it. If it's smelted into gold bars, it's protected by ARPA," the Archaeological Resources Protection Act.
Glen Taylor said his son left the cache where he found it because he immediately recognized its historical importance.
From The Associated Press, submitted by many readers via e-mail.
??
