Woman discovers large pile of mail in woods of Philadelphia neighborhood
"When I looked at the papers, I noticed it was mail. It was tons of mail," one resident said.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- United States Postal Service inspectors said they are working to determine who is responsible for dumping dozens of pieces of personal mail in Philadelphia's Eastwick section.
"It's crazy, it's crazy," said Eastwick resident Dianne Caesar.
Caesar said she was on a walk with her dog on Tuesday morning when she spotted something unusual in the woods.
"When I looked at the papers, I noticed it was mail. It was tons of mail," Caesar said.
Mail belonging to several people - both opened and unopened - was found scattered in the woods.
The mail carrier container was flipped over and emptied out.
Some of the envelopes also included several money orders that didn't make it to their intended destinations.
Despite a sign clearly stating it's private property and that dumping could result in a $300 fine, Caesar said illegal dumping is still an issue.
"We get a lot of dumping in this area all the time. We get tires, we got trash, people just take their trash and dump it here," Caesar said.
The Eastwick community bike patrol unit showed up after a few hours as well as a United States Postal Service inspector, who is now investigating the matter.
Postal service officials told Action News in a statement that they do not believe an employee is responsible.
"The Postal Service condemns, in the strongest possible sense, behavior that jeopardizes the security and sanctity of the U.S. Mail or threatens to tarnish the reputation and high level of trust that the vast majority of our employees work so hard to uphold," the statement said.
Residents said they're hoping the city can reach the owners of the property to have some of the wooded area cut back.
They're also asking for more lighting in hopes of deterring people from dumping in the area.
In the meantime, postal service inspectors are trying to figure out who's responsible.
