RANLO, N.C. – Officials in Gaston County have located two more bombs in a wooded area in Ranlo after two people found a first bomb Friday morning in a nearby creek. Even though they looked like the real thing they were all practice duds filled with concrete or sand.
"It does not appear there has been any danger at all", said Ranlo Police Chief Tim Anderson.
He said a team from Ft Bragg determined there was no danger, but that didn’t stop some neighbors from feeling uncomfortable.
Jane Adams has lived in Ranlo all her 64 years. "We had some neighbors down next to us who evacuated who went to motels and stuff the other night but we stayed", said Adams.
The six foot long, 500 pound bombs are the type that would drop out of an airplane during the Vietnam War. Experts from Fort Bragg were on scene, and the Gaston County Police Bomb Squad spent Monday searching the woods.
Police say there may have been a factory near the location that once made these types of bombs.
The Vietnam War Cocker Machines and Foundry produced the practice bombs; some neighbors believe there may be more lost duds even though police only found 3.
"It was a different world back there with different rules and regulations so they found a cheap way to get rid of them and throw out the inventory just the way business was done", said Paul Ortman a neighbor.
The second and third bombs, found around 11 a.m. Monday, were loaded onto the back of a flat bed truck. The bombs will be taken to a Gastonia firing range to be tested and disarmed.
Ranlo's police chief said someone found the first bomb Friday and planned to turn it in for scrap metal but a friend warned it wasn't a good idea. That friend stopped and told a police officer Friday morning and police began searching.
The bombs found Monday morning are still in Gastonia, but police say the team from Fort Bragg will return and take the items back to Fayetteville.
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