Recovery Missions
Frequently, postal inspectors do more than investigate crimes associated with the mail. On many occasions, inspectors are tasked with recovering mail after natural disasters, salvaging mail transportation wrecks, or even diving into frozen lakes to recover stolen safes.
2005 Mail Truck Wreck
On August 23, 2005, at approximately 4:30 p.m., the Postal Inspection Service was notified of a motor vehicle accident involving a mail trailer. The vehicle left Philadelphia Bulk Mail Center and was en route to Jacksonville, Florida, when it jackknifed due to heavy rains in the area.
The trailer was 100% full, but fortunately only 10% of the mail was tossed from the trailer onto a riverbed. The Inspection Service was called in to inspect and recover the mail. Inspectors were able to recover 95% of the mail in the trailer, while the other 5% was considered contaminated, due to leaking diesel fuel.
The Frozen Safe
In another instance, a safe was stolen from a post office in Melcroft, Pennsylvania, on January 1, 1979. When Postmaster Wright arrived at the post office the following morning, the 1,200-pound safe was missing. Inspectors followed tire impressions left in the heavy snow to a frozen lake but were at a loss as to where the safe could be when the tracks stopped.
It was easy for inspectors to find the culprit. Roy Paul Warman, a known postal criminal, was released from jail the previous year and began residing just 500 feet from the post office. Right before Christmas, he disappeared. After his arrest, he led inspectors to the safe and others responsible for the crime. With the help of a subaquatic team, and after weeks of digging through ice in freezing temperatures, the safe was recovered.
Georgia Tornadoes
In 1974, one of the worst nights of tornadoes hit the Southeast portion of the United States, causing the most damage in and around Atlanta, Georgia. One of two major USPS distribution facilities in the Atlanta area was entirely destroyed the night of the storms.
Inspectors from all around the state were called in to deal with the massive recovery mission to restore mail service. When inspectors arrived to help with the cleanup, the center was unrecognizable. Through massive winds and rain, a lot of mail was destroyed and was irrecoverable. But with the assistance of the Inspection Service, mail services were restored just a short time after the horrific natural disaster.
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