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Utah man gets stolen gun back after 37 years

Published: 17:11 EST, 10 December 2014 | Updated: 17:11 EST, 10 December 2014

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Richard Pittenger was 16 years old and taking a girl out on a date when he walked out of a Utah restaurant in November 1977 to find the window of his truck smashed and his shotgun missing.

Decades later, the Salt Lake City man got the weapon back Wednesday after it turned up at a sporting goods store in Albany, Oregon, and a serial number search showed it was stolen.

Salt Lake City police Det. Rod Van Scoy said he wasn't sure how to track down the owner, but he dug through old reports kept on microfilm and found Pittenger's mother.

Richard Pittenger, the Utah man who filed a stolen property report on his 20-gauge shotgun 37 years ago, stands holding it with Salt Lake City Police Detectives Rod Van Scoy, center and Cody Lougy, right, after it was returned at the Public Safety Building Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014, in Salt Lake City. Pittenger was in high school when the gun he used to hunt with his father was stolen from his truck during a break-in in 1977. Now, decades later, the 20-gauge shotgun turned up in Oregon, where a serial number search connected it to Pittenger's long-ago report. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Now 53, Pittenger said he was a little nervous when he got a message from the detective a few weeks ago saying he wanted to talk. Though he's glad to have the gun back, he's not sure what he'll do with it.

"I don't know the history of it. I don't know if it was used to hurt someone over the years," he said. His father took him to buy the 20-gauge shotgun, and Pittenger used it to hunt rabbits with his friends.

He said seeing it again brings back memories of his teenage years, when he was learning to play rock music and performing with bands for the first time. Music has become a focus for him again, as he's spent the last six years composing a rock opera.

"I wish they could return my youth rather than just the gun," he said with a smile.

He bought a new gun to replace the stolen one. His hobbies eventually changed, and he didn't think of the gun much, but the break-in stuck with him.

"It's kind of traumatic for everyone, but when you're a really young kid even more so," he said.

Property crimes are notoriously difficult for police, who often have little evidence to start an investigation, Van Scoy said. If investigators do find stolen items, it usually happens soon after the crime_Pittenger's shotgun is the oldest recovered property case the detective could recall.

Though stolen items do turn up when police catch a thief, without a serial number it's hard to connect it back to an owner and officers often end up selling unclaimed items at auction.

"If you have a serial number, it might take 37 years, but we'll get your property back, hopefully," Van Scoy said.

Richard Pittenger, the Utah man who filed a stolen property report on his 20-gauge shotgun 37 years ago, stands holding it after it was returned at the Public Safety Building, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014, in Salt Lake City. Pittenger was in high school when the gun he used to hunt with his father was stolen from his truck during a break-in in 1977. Now, decades later, the 20-gauge shotgun turned up in Oregon, where a serial number search connected it to Pittenger's long-ago report. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Richard Pittenger, a Utah man who filed a stolen property report on his 20-gauge shotgun 37 years ago, shakes hands with Salt Lake City Police Detective Rod Van Scoy after it was returned at the Public Safety Building Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014, in Salt Lake City. Pittenger was in high school when the gun he used to hunt with his father was stolen from his truck during a break-in in 1977. Now, decades later, the 20-gauge shotgun turned up in Oregon, where a serial number search connected it to Pittenger's long-ago report. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)