Nearly 20 undelivered holiday gifts found in woman’s trash, Illinois official says
Nearly 20 undelivered packages — believed to be Christmas gifts — were found dumped in a woman’s garbage can in Chicago last week, an official says.
Suzanne Walsh was taking out her garbage the afternoon of Dec. 8 when she found 19 packages in the trash can outside her Mt. Greenwood home, the Chicago Patch reported. They were addressed to people in nearby Evergreen Park.
“I’m a 27-year FedEx retiree. My first reaction was, ‘Oh, come on. They can’t throw away mail,” Walsh told the outlet.
She posted a photo of the packages to her Facebook page and soon received a call from 19th Ward alderman Matthew O’Shea, the Patch reported.
“The packages were Christmas presents,” O’Shea told WGN. “Someone is dumping packages. We have a real problem with management and now clearly we have an issue with someone who is dumping packages.”
O’Shea reached out to the U.S. Postal Service, which launched an investigation into the incident and determined the packages were handled by FedEx and never arrived at a post office to be processed or delivered, the outlet reported.
USPS turned the incident over to FedEx for review, WGN reported.
The packages have since been delivered, according to WLS.
In a statement to the outlet, the carrier said the person responsible for dumping the packages was no longer with FedEx.
“The safety and security of our customers’ shipments is a top priority for FedEx Ground and service providers are expected to handle packages with the utmost care,” the statement said. “These packages have since been delivered to their intended recipients and the individual responsible for this incident is no longer providing service on behalf of FedEx Ground. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this situation and remain committed to providing the best possible service during the holiday season.”
It’s not the first time people in the area have had trouble getting their mail.
The same day Walsh discovered the packages in her trash, a woman spotted a pile of packages outside her Evergreen Park home, WBBM reported. Erin Harvey initially thought they were litter.
“I couldn’t help but notice. I saw a ton of packages right there,” she told the outlet, adding that the mail was from retailers including Forever 21, Amazon and Hello Fresh.
Evergreen Park police picked up the packages and delivered them to their rightful recipients, but officials received a call the next day that two more packages had been dumped only two streets over, WBBM reported.
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 9:16 AM with the headline "Nearly 20 undelivered holiday gifts found in woman’s trash, Illinois official says."