Search for body turns up $220K in silver bars

MUNCIE, Indiana –  While they didn’t find a body during a massive search in early November, authorities did uncover a treasure of sorts.

Court documents filed Friday revealed Muncie police found an estimated $220,000 in silver bars in one of five safes on a northern Delaware County property during the Nov. 5-7 search efforts.

That safe had been stored outside and contained 120 silver bars weighing 100 ounces, and 338 smaller silver bars, each weighing 10 ounces. The total weight of the silver exceeded 950 pounds.

More than 250 items were seized during the search and included more than 100 guns and a large quantity of ammunition.

The warrants were issued after an informant told police James T. “Buddy” Reynolds, who died in 2012, had operated a “marijuana distribution empire” at the 140-acre site, just south of the community of Wheeling. The informer told police that Reynolds had buried cash in barrels on the property.

That man also claimed that Reynolds had fatally shot an associate and buried his body at the site. No human remains were found during two days of searching and digging.

While some of the items discovered during the search might seem unusual – among them nearly a quarter-million dollars in silver and currency, the large number of firearms, and an underground bunker found beneath a storage shed – that is not to say any laws have been violated.

Gallery: Guns, silver seized 

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Eric Hoffman said Friday that authorities are investigating whether the items seized – an officer said this week that includes “tubs and tubs of documents” – are evidence of a crime, or whether “any of the seized property is related to criminal activity.”

“If the property can be tied to criminal activity, including money laundering, it can be subject to civil forfeiture” by state or federal authorities, Hoffman said.

“If that property is not tied to illegal activity, if it is not illegal to possess and not stolen, it will be returned to the owner.”

According to property tax records, the land and buildings at the main search site are now owned by Donald Jason Mills, a nephew of “Buddy” Reynolds.

The informant and at least one other person – described in a court document as a member of the extended Reynolds family – told police Mills had maintained his late uncle’s marijuana-dealing operation. Mills has not been charged with any crimes.

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