Is money being stolen from mail in Hilton Head? Post Office won’t say as complaints mount
The wry comment that is as old as the internet: “If it’s on the web, it must be true.”
Despite weeks of rumors on the neighborhood social media site NextDoor involving mail theft at the north-end Hilton Head post office, allegations remain unconfirmed by local law enforcement and postal officials. Dozens of residents have reported losing cash and checks within the island’s mailing system, with one claiming a now-arrested postal employee was behind the losses.
The online rumors became so rampant that Hilton Head gated community Palmetto Hall issued a warning in its POA newsletter, announcing the alleged May 30 arrest of a postal worker at the island’s north-end office. The email sent to residents also said the community received frequent reports of lost and undelivered mail.
But Courtney Struna, the manager of Palmetto Hall’s POA, said the details about the arrest had been pulled from NextDoor and were not verified by post office officials. Still, she said, Palmetto Hall staff have witnessed firsthand the recent uptick in missing mail.
“We get a lot of complaints from residents,” Struna said. “Things just go missing and don’t arrive.”
Traditionally, longstanding local media companies only report what they can verify through official sources or firsthand knowledge by people affected by this type of crime. “We’re not in the rumor business,” said Robert York, Senior Editor of the Island Packet / Beaufort Gazette. “But when the rumors are so pervasive, we owe it to our audience to chase the facts and report what we find.”
What did we find?
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reached out to local, state and federal law enforcement and postal officials seeking confirmation of the online rumors, but no one we spoke to was aware of any arrest or an uptick in theft complaints. Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Maj. Angela Viens said deputies hadn’t received any recent reports of mail theft from residents.
Calls to other law enforcement officials yielded the same response.
When asked about the alleged theft and arrest, representatives from the Office of Inspector General said the USPS “does not confirm or refute” information on ongoing mail theft investigations — but residents can report missing mail by filing an online complaint at https://www.uspsoig.gov/hotline.
Hilton Head resident Cindy Lutz, a retired postal worker from Ohio, said investigations of internal mail theft can take weeks or even months to complete, but reports from those involved can help the Office of Inspector General act more quickly.
Lutz was one of the earliest people to sound the alarm about the possibility of theft occurring. Her initial post on NextDoor advised that an employee was arrested, but she later edited the post to characterize the actions taken by postal officials as “removal of an employee to minimize losses.” Lutz was given this information by Special Agent L. Paul King of the Office of Inspector General.
Lutz encourages any islander who thinks they may be a victim of mail theft to report their lost items to Special Agent King, both for incoming and outgoing mail. Residents can also reduce the likelihood of missing mail by writing addresses in all capital letters with no punctuation and including a ZIP+4 code, she said.
Anyone with firsthand knowledge of mail theft of cash, checks or goods should email our tip line at newsroom@islandpacket.com and any information we can verify will be published on our website and in the printed edition.
2 p.m. Update: A northern Hilton Head Island woman who lost a $100 Mastercard gift card in the mail was told her gift card was “recovered from the employee” at the island’s north-end post office, according to an email sent from Special Agent King obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. The woman notified postal authorities after the card was not delivered, even though USPS’ Informed Delivery digital alert service confirmed it had arrived at the north-end post office and was on its way to her mailbox.
