Man discovers stolen rifle in Okatie

A Beaufort County Works employee was mowing a ramp to U.S. 278 Wednesday in Okatie when he saw something black in the grass, a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report states.

After getting off his mower to check the item out, he discovered it was a rifle, the report states. The man told the police he did not touch the weapon and called his supervisor immediately. He then called the sheriff’s office, he said.

Deputies observed that the rifle was wet and had been at the location for at least several hours, the report states. Upon inspection of the weapon, two bullets were found in the magazine and one in the chamber, the report states.

A run of the serial numbers on the gun showed it as stolen out of Atlanta, the report states.

The report noted that a vehicle accident occurred near where the weapon was found earlier in the morning.

A dog tracking team was brought into the area.

This story was originally published August 20, 2017 at 10:28 AM with the headline "Man discovers stolen rifle in Okatie."