Corrales police have found the owner of a handgun found in the dirt along Corrales Road earlier this month.
Police Chief Victor Mangiacapra told the Corrales Comment Wednesday the weapon belongs to a former resident, and that detectives are trying to find the owner.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the .45-caliber Springfield Armory 1911 pistol was purchased at an Albuquerque sporting goods store in 2013.
It was found in a residential area near a fence on the finder’s property. Mangiacapra speculated that recent rains might have exposed it.
The weapon is considered lost and not connected to any crime, Mangiacapra said. If police are unable to locate the owner, he said, it will be destroyed in accordance with department policy and state law.