Rick and Marty Lagina Lead Swamp Breakthrough in S12 E15: Channeling the Solution

In Season 12, Episode 15 titled “Channeling the Solution,” with Rick and Marty Lagina heading to the northern swamp area—an excavation site long on Rick’s radar. Their renewed focus on this region signals a shift away from the traditional Money Pit zone, in hopes of validating a different long-held theory about buried caches of value.

Tom Nolan & Fred Nolan’s Legacy: A Family Theory Reignited

Tom Nolan, son of the late Fred Nolan, joins the team, adding emotional depth to the dig. Fred Nolan had once drained this swamp in 1969 and discovered ship timbers and survey stakes, claiming that the swamp was man-made to hide treasure. This dig attempts to affirm that belief.

Gary Drayton: Survey Stakes and Discovery Momentum

Gary’s metal detecting and field observations yield remarkable results—a sharpened, hand-hewn wooden stake, possibly centuries old. When multiple stakes are unearthed and appear aligned, it points toward intentional surveying—hinting at construction efforts possibly tied to treasure concealment.

Craig Tester & Steve Guptill: Mapping the Past

Craig Tester and surveyor Steve Guptill play pivotal roles in translating these finds into a broader narrative. Steve overlays stake locations on historical maps and lines them up with cobblestone paths, suggesting a deliberate layout—possibly for transport or concealment of treasure. Steve connects these lines toward the area called the “Eye” and previously found vault remains.

Dr. Ian Spooner: Geoscience Meets History

Dr. Ian Spooner arrives to assess the cobblestone formation. His early conclusion? These stones are too uniform and deliberate to be natural. He ties the swamp’s structural features to a shared historical period—between the late 1600s and mid-1700s—predating known searchers, ruling out farmers or fishermen.

Alex Lagina: Strategizing the Archaeological Approach

Alex Lagina proposes focused excavations to connect the cobblestone pathways to known features in Lot 5 and the Money Pit area. His idea: use this data to streamline the team’s future swamp work and consolidate excavation efforts under a unified plan.

Conclusion: A Converging Mystery

With cobblestone paths, survey stakes, and vaults lining up historically and geographically across Oak Island, this part of the episode leaves the team believing they’re facing an island-wide operation from the 1600s–1700s. Whether linked to the French Duc d’Anville expedition or another entity, the mounting evidence hints at coordinated construction—perhaps to conceal something significant.

The Laginas and their team agree: the mystery is no longer limited to the Money Pit. It’s a multi-location enigma that’s slowly converging, possibly inching toward resolution.