Magazine

Prospecting & Detecting

Crisson Gold Mine Robbed At Gunpoint

March 2022 by Scott Harn

Speaking of a need to be cautious, as Ray Mills discussed in his article “Are You Being Followed?” earlier in this isse, our friends at the Crisson Gold Mine in Dahlonega, Georgia were the victims of an armed robbery on February 3.

Tammy and Tony Ray own the mine, which offers panning for gold and gemstones, mining equipment, jewelry, historical tours and more. Their daughter, Brianna Ray-Weaver, was working in the shop at the end of the day along with Tommy Dawkins, another employee, when a man walked in, shut the door and locked it behind him.

Brianna said the suspect announced, “This is a robbery,” and brandished a firearm, and then told her, “Do what I say and you won’t get hurt.”

The suspect also claimed he had a partner somewhere nearby, and told her, “If any of you come after me, my buddy will kill you.”

The suspect brought a duffel bag with him that he filled with two employee cellphones, wallets, cash from the register, gold nuggets and several trays of jewelry. Dawkins was told to sit on the floor while Brianna was ordered to help gather some of the valuables. It seemed the robber knew where the most expensive products were and targeting those cases, leading employees to believe he had been to the store before. He was able to leave with well over $100,000 of cash, gold, jewelry and other merchandise.

Brianna called it the longest three minutes of her life.

The armed suspect was described as a white male, 5’7”-5’10”, weighing about 225 pounds, wearing a black Cincinnati Bengals jacket with orange trim, a ball cap, black mask, light-colored blue jeans and black boots.

A $1,000 reward was offered by the Lumpkin County Sherriff’s Office for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects. That reward was increased to $10,000 after donations from friends and family poured in.

This was the largest robbery of its kind in Lumpkin County, Sheriff Stacy Jarrard said.