Authorities seek dozens of AR-15 rifles that disappeared en route to Louisiana

Police are still seeking dozens of high-powered rifles that disappeared earlier this month from a Louisiana-bound truck.

A shipment of AR-15 Colt Law Enforcement Carbines left the manufacturer in Hartford, Connecticut, on Oct. 9, but an internal law enforcement memo showed that 63 of the weapons were missing when the truck was inspected upon arrival Oct. 12 in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The lightweight and customizable guns were specifically designed for law enforcement officers, according to Colt, and shares similarities to its military Colt M4.

The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office said one of the five pallets of guns shipped to Louisiana went missing somewhere along the way, and the memo shows the truck checked in at terminals along the way in New York, Maryland, Virginia and Tennessee.

Officials from the shipping company, Conway, told investigators the pallets were scanned as a group, not individually, at each checkpoint.

The shipping company and gun manufacturer declined to comment on the story, but law enforcement officers said they had the serial numbers on all the missing weapons that could be used to track them down on the market or in criminal investigations.

[Custom build AR-15 (M4A1) carbine on a wooden surface via Shutterstock]