Several hundred thousands dollars worth of property and cash have going missing from the NOPD evidence room, according to NOPD Superintendent Warren Riley.

Riley said they are still searching items, doing inventory on hundreds of thousands of items and said the investigation is far from over. So far they have determined there were four to five packages with money missing from them in evidence storage, Riley said.

Riley acknowledged that he, members of his staff and some City Council members met with auditors just a few days ago. He said his staff will meet again Thursday or Friday on what, if anything, to challenge from the report. The Police Department has two weeks to form a response.

Meanwhile, the dollar figure of the total amount missing in cash and other evidence in this case continues to climb.

“I’m going to be honest with you, because the investigation is still ongoing, I don’t know the total,” Riley said. “I have not received the final investigation. I’ve been apprised of it as it comes about, but I don’t have final figure. So it may be around $200,000, it may be a little bit more.”

State law requires that “an agency head of an auditee who has actual knowledge of any misappropriation of the public funds or assets of his agency must notify the legislative auditor and the district attorney immediately.”

Riley said his department first became aware of the missing money at the end of 2008, and he said he did notify the District Attorney’s Office and did not violate any state laws.

“State law requires public funds to be reported when it is derived from public or state funds through taxation,” Riley said. “This was not case, this was evidence from citizens. This was not public funds. It’s totally different.”

Once the NOPD sends in their response, the auditor has one week to look at it and give a final report