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Does Missing Mexican Gold Remain On A Hong Kong Hillside?

Yithian

Parish Watch
Staff member
Joined
Oct 29, 2002
Messages
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Location
East of Suez
This is a great little historical tale with a lot of rumour but some genuine 'stuff of fiction' twists.

Missing gold on a Hong Kong hillside? History buffs return to plane crash site in search of truth - and treasure
A cargo plane carrying Mexican bullion and gold worth millions today was downed on Mount Parker in 1947

Published: 10:30am, 3 Feb, 2017​
Seventy years after a Philippine Airlines plane burst into flames on impact with Mount Parker, three local history buffs have unearthed a gold coin from the crash site – and with it a forgotten mystery.
The upper slopes are shrouded in dense mist and low cloud on a chilly, overcast Saturday, much as they were on that afternoon seven decades ago, as three men make the arduous trek up the steep Mount Parker Trail towards the summit, metal detectors slung over their shoulders.
There was no concrete trail in 1947 and newspapers at the time reported that the police search and recovery team, dispatched from Shau Kei Wan the following morning, had to cling to shrubs and tufts of grass in order to reach the smouldering crash site, where the charred remains of the four crew members were discovered. The aircraft – a Dakota bearing the registration PI-C12 – had crashed on Saturday, January 25, en route to Kai Tak airfield carrying a reported US$15 million cargo of Mexican bullion and coins, destined for seven Hong Kong banks. A significant amount of that cargo remains unaccounted for.
LONG READ CONTINUES--INCLUDING IMAGES THAT ILLUSTRATE THE STORY:
 
This is a great little historical tale with a lot of rumour but some genuine 'stuff of fiction' twists.

Missing gold on a Hong Kong hillside? History buffs return to plane crash site in search of truth - and treasure
A cargo plane carrying Mexican bullion and gold worth millions today was downed on Mount Parker in 1947

Published: 10:30am, 3 Feb, 2017​
Seventy years after a Philippine Airlines plane burst into flames on impact with Mount Parker, three local history buffs have unearthed a gold coin from the crash site – and with it a forgotten mystery.
The upper slopes are shrouded in dense mist and low cloud on a chilly, overcast Saturday, much as they were on that afternoon seven decades ago, as three men make the arduous trek up the steep Mount Parker Trail towards the summit, metal detectors slung over their shoulders.
There was no concrete trail in 1947 and newspapers at the time reported that the police search and recovery team, dispatched from Shau Kei Wan the following morning, had to cling to shrubs and tufts of grass in order to reach the smouldering crash site, where the charred remains of the four crew members were discovered. The aircraft – a Dakota bearing the registration PI-C12 – had crashed on Saturday, January 25, en route to Kai Tak airfield carrying a reported US$15 million cargo of Mexican bullion and coins, destined for seven Hong Kong banks. A significant amount of that cargo remains unaccounted for.
LONG READ CONTINUES--INCLUDING IMAGES THAT ILLUSTRATE THE STORY:
I... have heard a story from someone who claims a relative took the gold. I won't go into too much detail because A) I don't want to get anyone into trouble if it's true and B) I can't really remember the details anyway.

Long story short, this guy vanished the gold from the site of the crash post haste (possibly with the help of a brother?), then pissed it up the wall on a gambling addiction and a second family with a mistress. He ended up dying in San Francisco, where he was working as a chef in a Chinese restaurant.
 
I... have heard a story from someone who claims a relative took the gold. I won't go into too much detail because A) I don't want to get anyone into trouble if it's true and B) I can't really remember the details anyway.

Long story short, this guy vanished the gold from the site of the crash post haste (possibly with the help of a brother?), then pissed it up the wall on a gambling addiction and a second family with a mistress. He ended up dying in San Francisco, where he was working as a chef in a Chinese restaurant.
“I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted.”

― WC Fields
 
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