On Friday 22 July 2005 a shooter who had been shooting in the Little River area, inadvertently left his shotgun on the side of the road in Kinloch Street, Little River when he was picked up by a friend. When he realised his mistake he returned to find the shotgun gone.
"He has reported the missing gun to the Papanui Police," says Papanui Watch House keeper Graham Morgan. "We now know that the gun was most likely uplifted by the occupants of a white utility vehicle on the afternoon of the same day.
"We hope that this safety conscious person has picked it up to keep it out of the wrong hands and has or intends to hand the item into a police station."
The fire-arm is described as a Browning 12 gauge Model A500R auto loading shotgun.
Senior Constable Graham Morgan says that should the finder, or someone that knows the finder, read this article, a call to him would be appreciated on 03 3741735 during the hours of 0830 -4.30 pm on a weekday.