Deputies Hunt for Missing Handgun

Orange County sheriff’s investigators asked today for the public’s help in tracking down a .45-caliber gun that a suspect allegedly dumped after firing into a creek bed in Mission Viejo.

On Monday, Edgar Valdivia asked to borrow someone’s cell phone along the Aliso Creek Bike Trail near Trabuco and Jeronimo roads. While making a call, Valdivia allegedly fired a round from the gun into the creek bed and ran away, but was arrested a short distance away, sheriff’s officials said.

Valdivia allegedly told investigators he dumped a black backpack containing the gun in the creek bed, but so far deputies have not been able to find it.

If anyone comes across the backpack, they shouldn’t pick it up and should call 911 immediately, according to the sheriff’s department.

City News Service; Photos: Images provided the Orange County Sheriff’s Department