January 7, 2022
OLK CITY, Iowa — Roughly 26 years after it was stolen, a shotgun is back in the hands of its rightful owner in Polk City.
Keith Lister now has his Remington 870 after it was found in Arkansas.
Polk City Police say they received a call in early December from the Mena, Arkansas Police Department saying they had a gun that was stolen from Polk City. The Mena Police Department was notified after a pawn shop put the serial number of a gun through a nationwide reporting system to see if it was stolen.
After it was transferred between departments, it was given back to Lister on Wednesday.
“He was surprised, to say the least, when our department called and told him his gun was found 26 years later,” the department posted on Facebook.
Also in the photo is Sgt. Bode who was the lead on the case, who the department invited back for when it was reunited.
“This happened almost 26 years ago. And, you know, we held on to everything here at the police department and they, you know, they were entered as stolen. So, that was never gonna go away until they’re recovered,” Chief Jeremy Siepker said.
No suspects have been named in the case, so that part of it is still open.
Siepker also said this is a reminder to write down the serial numbers of guns owned the in event one is stolen. Without the serial number written down, this reuniting would have never happened, he said.
Source: https://www.kcci.com/article/polk-city-iowa-arkansasgun-stolen-from-returned-26-years-later/38697623