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Castaic Lake so low that fisherman finds agent’s gun lost 22 years ago

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California’s lingering drought has lowered the water level in Castaic Lake so dramatically that authorities said a fisherman on Thursday recovered a badge and handgun that a federal agent lost in the lake nearly 22 years ago.

Sheriff’s detectives say the water level at Castaic is down about 151 feet and that the shallow water finally exposed a backpack containing the gun and badge.

“We knew it’d been there a while when we saw an old pager,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Johnny Jones.

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Deputies said they were able to track down the agent, who works with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The agent told deputies that he and a friend from the Los Angeles County Probation Office spent a day at Castaic Lake in 1992. The agent said he put all of his valuables and police gear into a backpack before the two got into their boat.

But the backpack was lost overboard.

The agent told deputies he’d received a lot of grief from peers about losing the items.

Follow Southern California crime @lacrimes

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