Montgomery County Investigators Speak About Their Involvement In Antique Gun Theft Case

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Two local investigators who helped crack a case involving a stolen antique firearm that went missing from Valley Forge Park decades ago were recently profiled for their work on the investigation.

Upper Merion Police Department Detectives Andy Rathfon and Brendan Dougherty were interviewed for an article on the Officer.com website about their involvement in the case of the stolen Revolutionary War-era rifle that had been lifted from the Valley Forge National Historical Park visitor's center back in 1971.

The theft occurred so long ago that at the time the antique Christian Oerter rifle was stolen Valley Forge was still a state park not yet part of the National Park Service.

Thomas Gavin, a Pottstown resident, was sentenced in late November to one day in federal prison and a monetary fine for his pleading guilty this past summer to one count of disposal of an object of cultural heritage. There was a statute of limitations in the actual theft itself, so he was unable to be sentenced for that crime.

Patch previously reported on the case here.

Visit here to check out the entire article about the investigators involved in catching Gavin.