Police have spoken to Apple about the missing next-generation iPhone, in a story published on its site. The prototype ended up in the hands of , a technology blog that posted photographs of the smartphone Monday, along with commentary about the new features that it had uncovered.

"There has been no case submitted to our office for review or prosecution," said Stephen Wagstaffe, chief deputy district attorney for San Mateo County, the location of the bar in Redwood City, Calif. where the iPhone was reported left behind by an Apple software engineer in mid-March.

Gizmodo purchased the prototype from an unidentified patron of that bar who had taken the iPhone after the Apple employee left it behind. Nick Denton, who heads Gawker Media, the company that operates Gizmodo, confirmed that his company . Gizmodo has not named the seller.

Wagstaffe declined to answer additional questions, saying only that if there was a case, his office would handle it, not authorities in Santa Clara County, where Apple's headquarters is located.

Calls to San Mateo or Santa Clara investigators, Wagstaffe added, would be fruitless, as they had been told to direct all inquiries to him. "I think that's what you call a Catch-22," he said.