Seasonal mail theft on the rise

WASILLA — A string of mail thefts in the Valley has law enforcement as well as postal officials reminding residents to use a little extra care when mailing or retrieving items in standalone mailboxes.

Since Thursday, Alaska State Troopers have received reports of mail theft on the Old Glenn Highway as well as a rash of thefts along the Knik-Goose Bay Road corridor, part of a seasonal uptick as thieves target gift cards, checks and other holiday-related material.

According to Troopers, the multiple thefts south of Wasilla occurred primarily along Vine and Sunset roads, near Mile 7 of Knik-Goose Bay. Other resident reports identified thefts from standalone boxes off Foothills Drive and in the Victoria Estates subdivision.

“Holiday gift cards and packages appeared to be the primary target of the suspects, with multiple holiday cards and opened envelopes recovered at the incident locations,” a trooper statement said of the Vine and Sunset thefts. Letters and cards were scattered around a group of standalone boxes at the corner of Sunset and Knik-Goose Bay Friday.

On Saturday, Troopers received a report of the theft of a “financial transaction card” from a mailbox off Plumley Road and the Old Glenn Highway, with the card later being used for unauthorized transactions at multiple locations in Palmer.

Troopers are asking anyone with information on any of the mail thefts to contact them directly at 352-5401 or to call Crime Stoppers at 745-3333.

For residents with standalone boxes, the postal service recommends mailing gift items from a local post office and to retrieve mail from the box as soon as possible after delivery.

Mail theft should be reported to local police as well as to the postmaster, Dawn Peppinger, manager of marketing for the postal service’s Alaska district, said Monday.

“If a customer is a victim of rifled mail or mail theft from a rural-style mailbox, we also recommend that they report the concern directly to the law enforcement arm of the USPS, the US Postal Inspection Service,” Peppinger said. “They can do this by clicking on a link at the bottom of usps.com or calling 877-876-2455. In some cases, details on the missing contents can help in the investigation — such as the numbers from a gift card or checks.”