$1.5M in Gold Missing at O'Hare

CHICAGO (AP) â€” A shipment of unrefined gold worth $1.5 million was reported missing at O'Hare International Airport, the FBI said. <br><br>The gold had been loaded onto a non-stop Air France flight

Friday, October 27th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) â€” A shipment of unrefined gold worth $1.5 million was reported missing at O'Hare International Airport, the FBI said.

The gold had been loaded onto a non-stop Air France flight that arrived at the airport Thursday from Paris, the FBI said. The shipping company reported the gold missing shortly thereafter.

The FBI said the gold has not officially been declared stolen.

The gold was destined for a refinery in Utah. Authorities would not release the name of the shipping company.

The Chicago Police Department said about 550 pounds of gold were shipped in five metal boxes from the west African nation of Benin.

Only three boxes were found in the Air France terminal, and those were not the same boxes used initially to ship the gold, police said.

``The boxes were opened by the FBI and U.S. Customs and they found some wood carvings and other scrap,'' Police Sgt. Robert Cargie said.