The sheriff's office says the guards reported that three armed men in a white van approached them, ordered them to the ground, tied their hands behind their backs and forced them to walk into some nearby woods. Transvalue said its employees were not injured during the heist. The company is cooperating with authorities and is offering a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest. Wilson County Sheriff Calvin Woodard Jr. declined interview requests Monday and did not respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking additional information, such as what weapons the robbers used or how they managed to get the armored truck open. Shelley Lynch, spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Charlotte field office, said agents are assisting the local sheriff and are working to determine whether a federal crime has been committed. The guards are employed by TransValue Inc., which according to its website, is a Miami-based company that transports valuables between financial institutions.
– Highway robbery in North Carolina: Police and the FBI are probing a heist on Interstate 95 Sunday night in which around $4 million in gold was allegedly stolen from a truck. Two armed security guards who were transporting the gold from Miami to Massachusetts say that after they pulled over at mile 114 when the truck had mechanical problems, they were approached by three armed men in a van who tied their hands behind their backs and ordered them to walk into the woods, WRAL reports. While the TransValue guards were in the woods, the bandits made off with 275 pounds of gold bars, according to the Wilson Times. Interstate 95 is a busy road, but the heist took place along a lonely, isolated stretch of it surrounded by woods and farms, reports the AP, which notes that it isn't clear how the robbers were able to get the truck open. TransValue, which is based in Miami, says its guards were not injured in the heist and is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the robbers. The FBI is investigating to determine whether a federal crime occurred, WRAL reports. (In another gold heist earlier this year, thieves made off with gold nuggets from the Wells Fargo History Museum.)