Colorado officials said they do not know what happened to a set of moon rocks presented to the governor in 1974, but amateur detectives are on the case.

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Officials said the rocks, encased in a sphere on a plaque, were presented to Gov. John Vanderhoof by astronaut Jack Lousma on Jan. 9, 1974, and the fate of the rocks once Vanderhoof left office is unknown, The Denver Post reported Tuesday.

Many officials said they were unaware of the existence of the rocks, the second group of rocks to be presented to the state.

"I had no idea we had a second set of moon rocks," said state Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville. "No one else had ever heard of a second set of rocks."

Weissmann tracked down Colorado's first set of moon rocks 10 years ago. They were found at the Colorado History Museum, which officials said does not have the second set.

Richard Griffis, a forensic-investigation student from the University of Phoenix, said the rocks may be in boxes of Vanderhoof's personal effects in the Colorado State Archives.

"When I called the state archives, the person who did the research for me actually located two boxes tied to Governor Vanderhoof, but he could not tell me what was in those boxes," Griffis said.