Recent drops in water levels at a reservoir in New York have led to an unexpected discovery resembling a scene from a crime drama.
As Silver Lake Park’s water levels on Staten Island decreased by about eight feet, areas typically under water became visible, attracting visitors eager to explore what once lay hidden beneath.
Chris Sammon, a resident of Staten Island, visited the reservoir after hearing reports of the significant drop in the waterline. He anticipated finding old bottles and debris but stumbled upon something far more intriguing.
Sammon noticed a large object on a rocky area usually under water. This bundle, approximately the size of a coconut, was wrapped in black electrical tape and attached to a sizable rock, seemingly to prevent it from floating away.
In an interview with Staten Island Advance, Sammon explained: “I wasn’t entirely surprised to find something like that. While I did go out there looking for bottles or any bits of old treasure, I was kind of on the lookout for guns, weapons and things of that nature.”
He further stated: “When I saw a big bundle of tape and realized it was a wrapped-up object taped to a large rock, I figured it was something someone wanted to hide.”
Sammon photographed the bundle and then cautiously unwrapped it, uncovering items that prompted serious questions about their presence at the reservoir’s bottom.
He subsequently handed the objects to the police, who identified one item as a starter pistol often used for races, along with a pair of brass knuckles.
Sammon, however, was skeptical.
He remarked: “Why go through all of that trouble to wrap it up in a mile of tape and hurl it into a lake along with a large rock?”
“I would imagine it was probably used for robbery or something because in such a situation, no one would know the difference between a regular firearm and a blank gun.”
While active officers believed the item to be a race-starting gun, a former NYPD gun squad detective suggested it looked like a Ruger .38-caliber handgun.
“We’ll probably never know the real story,” Sammon concluded.