Bill of Rights seized by FBI

From CNN:

The FBI has recovered a valuable copy of the Bill of Rights that had been missing for 138 years, officials said Wednesday. . .

According to legend, it was stolen from North Carolina by a Union soldier at the end of the Civil War. . .

The document was recovered by the FBI in Philadelphia Tuesday in an undercover operation when an individual attempted to sell it, officials said.

The copy is believed to have been in North Carolina in recent years, but officials were uncertain where it had been for most of the past 138 years.

What is curious about this story is the absence of information about the document's possessor. Though the FBI is clearly milking this for all it can, this hardly seems to be a conventional recovery of stolen goods from a culpably knowing trader. I wouldn't be surprised if the would-be seller turns out to be some poor ignorant antique dealer who suddenly and unexpectedly found himself hauled off by the Feds.

Posted by David on March 19, 2003 9:13 PM