PRICE, UTAH – Something strange and maybe down right criminal is happening to mail in Price, Utah.
Brittany Potter says she’s received three pieces of mail, all from Price, and all three looked like they had been tampered with.
“At first, it was just complete shock,” Potter said.
Potter had been expecting a card in the mail from her in-laws for her birthday in November, but when the card didn’t come, she started to wonder.
“Usually, it takes two or three days to get to Salt Lake from Price,” Potter said.
Potter said the card did eventually come in the mail, over a week after it had been mailed, but when she opened it up, there was nothing inside.
“I was expecting a $100 Visa gift card, it wasn’t in there," Potter said.
Potter said it became a recurring theme. Less than a week after the first incident, her grandmother tried sending her a card, and again, it looked like it had been tampered with.
“I was heartbroken when it happened and when it happened a second time, it was just so frustrating,” Potter said.
Potter took to social media to voice her concern, and within 24 hours, her post had been shared nearly 900 times. Some who shared it said they had similar experiences in Price. As a result of the response, Potter reached out to the Postal Service for help. She said they told her it would take 48 to 72 hours to look into it.
In the meantime, the USPS regional spokesman released this statement:
“The U.S. Postal Service employs more than 522,000 employees and is the largest civilian federal workforce in the country. This type of alleged behavior within the Postal Service is not tolerated and the overwhelming majority of Postal Service employees, which serve the public, are honest, hardworking, and trustworthy individuals who would never consider engaging in any type of criminal behavior.”
If a Postal worker is in fact involved, the Office of Inspector General will step in to handle the situation. In a statement sent to FOX 13, the office states:
“Whoever, being a Postal Service officer or employee, embezzles any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, or any article or thing contained therein entrusted to him or which comes into his possession intended to be conveyed by mail, or carried or delivered by any carrier, messenger, agent, or other person employed in any department of the Postal Service, or forwarded through or delivered from any post office or station thereof established by authority of the Postmaster General or of the Postal Service; or steals, abstracts, or removes from any such letter, package, bag, or mail, any article or thing contained therein, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
While Potter waits for a response, she thinks she knows how the insides of the envelopes are being stolen. Pointing to the backside of the envelope where the four corners of paper meet in the middle, she thinks someone might be using a razor blade to loosen up the edges and pop out a side fold.
After the valuables are removed inside, she thinks the fold is then being slid back into its place.
“We’re away from family,” Potter said. “This is our way to celebrate with them and they’re taking away those celebrations and ruining those special moments for us.”
The United States Postal Office says they take the allegations seriously and ask customers who think their mail is being stolen to report it as soon as possible.
Customers can contact the U. S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455, or online here. They can also contact the Office of Inspector General, USPS, online here or 1-888-USPS-OIG (1-888-877-7644).
