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DAVIS COUNTY — An M-16 rifle missing since 2006 was found in a deputy's home, the Davis County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

Detectives said they concluded a yearlong investigation into what happened to the missing M-16 rifle after a deputy came forward and said he had forgotten about putting the gun into a gun safe in his home before deploying to Afghanistan. He had requested permission to borrow the M-16 for training purposes for the Davis County SWAT team he was a member of in 2006, investigators said.

The gun remained in the deputy's gun safe from that time until Friday, according to the sheriff's office. He told investigators he had not thought about the M-16 since 2006 until he saw reports of the missing rifle in the newspaper.

"During the investigation, partially because there was a lack of paperwork and partially because of human error, the employee never heard about an investigation into a missing M-16 rifle," a statement from the sheriff's office reads. "It wasn’t until he was reading in the newspapers that DCSO had a missing assault rifle that his memory was sparked, he went to his gun safe to check, then made the call to his superior."

It wasn't until he was reading in the newspapers that DCSO had a missing assault rifle that his memory was sparked. –Davis County Sheriff's Office

The deputy is a member of the U.S. military and was deployed to Afghanistan for 1½ years after receiving orders in 2006, according to the sheriff's office. It said he returned home for a brief period before doing a second tour in the Middle East. He has been home from his second tour for several years.

"His employment never ceased and the gun was never on the streets being used for criminal purposes. He simply forgot it was there," the statement from the sheriff's office reads.

The deputy faces administrative action, according to investigators. They said a report has been given to the Davis County Attorney’s Office for review.

The Davis County Sheriff's Office received 20 rifles through a Department of Defense program that issued surplus equipment to police agencies in 1998, according to the Associated Press. They reported the rifles were kept in storage except for a few training exercises until 2006.

The M-16 rifle was discovered to be missing in 2013 after a federal audit, according to the sheriff's office.

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