UPDATE June 16 – Police in Merritt are looking to identify the owner of some non-restricted firearms that have been in their possession for about a month.

Corporal Brock Hedrick tells RadioNL it looks like these firearms were washed away during the atmospheric river storms of Nov. 2021.

“We do not believe they were involved in a crime. We believe they washed away in the flooding event of November 2021 and we are hoping to reunite them with their lawful owner,” Hedrick told Radio NL Friday.

Hedrick says police will not disclose how they came to the determination that the firearms were washed away by the floods which forced the evacuation of the entire Nicola Valley community.

“It may give away the ability for someone to claim these firearms but we do believe they were involved in the flooding event,” he said.

“I won’t get into the exact number and type but we’ve combed through the reports of our missing firearms or lost firearms during the flood. We don’t believe that these firearms have been reported lost or stolen to us at this given time so we’re hoping that the owner contacts us.”

Hedrick says people will need to be able to provide proof of ownership if they come to claim these firearms from the Merritt RCMP Detachment, which can be reached at 250-378-4262.