Mail Stolen from Fuquay-Varina Neighborhood

Police think they have an idea who is responsible.

Daniel Estep, 16, was just taking a walk in the woods behind his house in the Creedway subdivision when he found a pile of mail he knew didn't belong there. He called police.

"I saw a bunch of paper on the ground. What if it were our mail and we wouldn't have gotten mail or checks or something? It was terrible," said Estep.

Police say the mail was stolen from six neighborhood mailboxes, maybe more. Some of the mail was waiting to be picked up by the postal carrier, other pieces had just been delivered.

Whoever took the mail had rummaged through it. Police are now dusting every envelope for prints. They found opened envelopes with child support checks inside, cancelled checks up to $10,000 and blank checks the bank was trying to deliver. Police believe it was just kids playing a prank, because small fingerprints were found on several envelopes.

"If someone is there to steal checks, social security checks or any checks, they will take them, forge the name and cash them," said Fuquay-Varina Police Chief Stacy Pleasant. "In this instance none of that was done."

Resident Georgeanna Berry is upset something like this could happen just a short distance away from her front door.

"This may be the answer while my mail back in May has not reached its destination," said Berry.

Prank or not, the people responsible face federal charges.

There isn't much one can do to protect incoming mail. The best advice is to drop any important mail into a Postal Service mailbox.