This was a potentially explosive discovery.
An Oregon woman was cleaning out her deceased father’s garage in the small town of Otis when she found was authorities called an intact, live World War II-era hand grenade, still in its original packaging, The Oregonian reported.
The woman and her husband made the find while rummaging through her father’s effects, discovering the apparently live ammunition while going through boxes, KOIN-TV reported.
The woman, who has not been identified by authorities, called the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
“I was skeptical,” Sgt. Patrick Dougherty told The Oregonian. The deputy said it was not unusual to get a call about grenades, but for the most part the devices were not active.
The woman said her father had plenty of military memorabilia, although she did not know if he served in the armed forces, the newspaper reported. She also said her father had a World War II MKIIA1 fragmentation grenade, but it had been deactivated and turned into a cigarette lighter.
Although initially skeptical, Dougherty said officials decided to call the Oregon State Police bomb squad, The Oregonian reported.
After nearly an hour, the bomb squad was able to remove the device from the garage, the newspaper reported. Authorities said they would investigate further to see “if the grenade contained the necessary internal components to be deadly,” KOIN reported.