20,000 Letters Found in Missing Mailman's Garage

Some of the undelivered mail dates back to 1997
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Suggested by MarionRozelle
Posted May 14, 2010 11:55 AM CDT
20,000 Letters Found in Missing Mailman's Garage
Boxes of mail sit in the back of a U.S. Postal Service truck in this file photo.   (Getty Images)

When a Philadelphia mailman didn't show up for work several days in a row last month, postal officials got worried. So they paid a visit to his home, little suspecting what they'd find there: roughly 20,000 undelivered and unopened pieces of mail, some dating to 1997. Paychecks, bills, and even a college acceptance letter from 2007 laid buried in tubs upon tubs of missives.

Delaying the mail and stealing mail are federal offenses, but no one's been able to question the mailman, because they still can't find him, CBS reports. The letters however, are now being delivered. “I got mail today from 2007,” said one resident. Among that mail was a $900 check that he'd specifically asked the guy he knew as “Dave the mailman” to watch for. “Dave said as soon as he got it, he would call me.” (More US Postal Service stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X