Woman finds giant pile of abandoned mail in Cape Coral

Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Credit: Shared with WINK News.

A woman says she found a giant pile of mail abandoned in two Cape Coral parks, including government checks.

When Sam Yaffey rides her bike near Joe Stonis Park in Cape Coral, she says the roadways are usually clean, but that wasn’t the case Tuesday morning.

“I saw paper in the street, and my thought was blown construction trash at first,” Yaffey said. “But then, that was like, every so many feet, I started seeing more and more of it.”

What Yaffey thought was trash was actually mail and lots of it.

“Most of it was junk mail, and some of it was torn in half,” Yaffey said.

But mixed among the junk mail, Yaffey told us was a package and a government check.

“I found a box that it was about 8 inches, and it indicated it had been delivered to the postal service in the paper stuffing,” Yaffey said. “And it was thrown across the front of the yard. The box was across the yard, but there was no contents.”

Yaffey said she’s not sure how the mail got there. She worries someone stole it and dumped it.

“The fact that it was so much of it all over, I would say it’s about 200 homes worth of mail,” Yaffey said.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service told us it’s investigating whether the mail was stolen or possibly lost.

Tips to prevent mail theft:

  • Don’t allow mail to accumulate in your mailbox
  • Don’t put outgoing mail in your mailbox overnight
  • Use the letter slots at your post office when possible

MORE: USPS – Mail Theft Prevention Tips 

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