Stolen guns still missing

Three days after a local man was arrested after stealing four loaded handguns from his parents' home, police have yet to find the firearms.

Joseph McCormick, 19, of 235 Hoyt Road, who allegedly took the gun and assaulted his sister last Friday afternoon, was arrested Saturday evening when police found him hiding in the woods behind McDonald's restaurant near Exit 20 in Tilton. After his arrest McCormick told Captain Kevin Keegan of the Gilford Police that he buried the weapons in a field near near his parents' residence, but a search of the area found nothing. McCormick later told Detective Kris Kelley he lied to Keegan. Kelley said yesterday that although police were not without information about the guns, they did not know of their whereabouts.

The missing handguns, which belong McCormick's father Robert, are a Taurus, large frame .357 caliber; a European EAA .38 caliber special; a Taurus, 9 millimeter semi-automatic; and a Taurus subcompact .45 caliber. Robert mcCormick told police that all the guns were kept fully loaded.

Earlier this week McCormick, who is on bail for two drug offenses, was arraigned in Laconia District Court on charges of four counts of theft by unauthorized taking of a firearm, a Class A felony, criminal threatening with a firearm, a Class B felony, along with simple assault and obstructing the report of a crime, both class A misdemeanors. He is being held in the Belknap County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail and is scheduled to appear in court for a probable cause hearing on the felony charges on May 8 and for trial on the misdemeanor charges on May 29.