In the bottom drawer of the old gun cabinet my Grandfather had a rough 4th model .38 S&W that was nickel plated that I remember as a kid in the 1970's. The story was that he found it on the side of a dirt road back in the hill country of Texas many, MANY decades ago. He said it had four live rounds and one fired cartridge case in it when he found it, and I don't think it was ever fired again because when I cracked it open it still had 4 live R-P LRN rounds and a singe fired cartridge case in the cylinder (All were nickel plated cases, if I recall correctly).
I'll assume it was probably used in some sort of crime and tossed out of a car during the getaway, but I have no idea what happened to it (He died in August of 1990, the gun was probably given away after that).