Gun Hidden In Book Discovered At New England Thrift Store
The idea of someone hiding a gun inside a book may sound like something out a paperback espionage novel, but apparently someone stumbled across such a thing at a Goodwill thrift store in New England.
Tucked inside a book donated to a thrift shop in Ellsworth, Maine, was what police described as a “Derringer-style pistol,” small enough to hide inside a hollowed-out hardcover copy of author Terry Anderson’s Den of Lions. Fortunately, an employee stumbled across the hidden gun before the book landed in the hands of someone interested in reading Anderson’s “startling memoir.”
According to Reuters, Goodwill spokesman Ken Christian said the thrift shop employee noticed something a little unusual about the donated book. When the inquisitive staffer decided to flip through the pages, the tome’s hidden secrets were quickly revealed. Nestled inside Den of Lions was an extremely small pistol.
“Part of our normal procedure is to go through books and shake them out, to get papers and bookmarks and things out of them. But this was clearly something more,” Christian said about the highly unusual discovery.
What A Find, Hidden Gun Found In A Book At A Goodwill Store http://t.co/oykp9uLMwr pic.twitter.com/clg0vjV9sB
— Gun Culture World (@guncultureworld) February 6, 2015
Ellsworth police Lt. Harold Page told the Bangor Daily News that the book containing the hidden gun didn’t appear suspicious at first glance. Page likened the discovery to something out of an old-school spy story.
“I’m guessing what it was, somebody was cleaning out a house and didn’t realize that it was in a book. In my 36 years of law enforcement, I’ve never seen anything like this. This is a new one,” he explained, adding that the tiny weapon wasn’t loaded.
Since the book arrived at the store from a warehouse, Goodwill employees have no way of knowing who donated the book containing the hidden gun. Until someone comes forward to claim the item, authorities remain stumped.
Christian told Reuters that while the hidden gun was definitely unexpected, this certainly isn’t the only curious discovery they’ve made over the years. The store previously received dentures, prosthetic limbs, and pornographic movies inside normal DVD cases.
This isn’t the first time the Inquisitr has tackled a story about an unusual discovery made by Goodwill employees. Back in August of 2013, a staffer sorting through donated books found an envelope contained over $10,000. Instead of keeping the money for herself, she decided to hand it over to management in case someone was missing the cash.
“My concern was somebody was out that money, and I would have liked for them to get it back,” Lakeisha Williams told KXTV at the time.
As for the gun hidden inside the book, its owner remains a mystery.
[Lead image via Shutterstock]
