Tons of Musty Mail Found in Carrier’s Home

About 6 tons of magazines, letters and free samples, some more than 3 years old, were found in the home of a mail carrier, but his customers apparently never missed the mail, officials said.

“I’ve seen this type of thing before, but never of this magnitude,” said postal investigator Richard Jordan. “Right now, we’re overwhelmed.”

Authorities responding to a tip from a neighbor raided the carrier’s home last week and found the undelivered mail, some of it badly deteriorated and infested with bugs, piled in the house, packed into a storage shed and littering the surrounding woods.

It was believed to be one of the largest mail thefts in U.S. history, said a postal investigator who did not want to be identified because he works undercover. Dean Nichols, a postal inspector in Birmingham, Ala., said he is unsure whether it was the largest because the Postal Service does not keep records of mail thefts.

Truckloads Hauled Away

Investigators used a front-end loader to scoop up the mail, hauling away “several truckloads.” But authorities could give no precise estimate of how much had been seized, except that it had filled 16 postal bins.

The bins hold about 250 pounds of mail, meaning that roughly 2 tons had been hauled off.

Jordan said about 32 bins full of mail--or 4 tons--remained to be collected. About 500 to 600 pieces of first-class mail were among the items found.

“We amazed ourselves when we found more today,” he said Thursday after a sweep in the woods surrounding the house. Examples of the bulk mail included sweepstakes envelopes and diaper samples.

The name of the mail carrier was not released, but he works out of the Pensacola office and lives in Milton. He has been placed on administrative leave pending charges, officials said.

Retained as Evidence

The pieces of first-class mail are being retained as evidence. Investigators are sorting the remaining bulk mail and contacting each recipient to see if they still want it delivered. The rest will be destroyed.

“We hate to destroy it, but some is just undeliverable. It’s something I never thought I’d see,” Jordan said.

Pensacola Postmaster Ben Jasek said he was surprised that the carrier’s 500 rural customers didn’t notice any mail missing. The post office never received any complaints to tip them off, he said.

“This is a fluke. All I can say is that rural carriers are kind of their own entity,” he said.