Missing mail found at former postal worker's home

Apex, N.C. — Thousands of pieces of undelivered mail have been found at the home of a former U.S. Postal Service employee, authorities said Monday.

Agents from the service's Office of the Inspector General recently searched the Apex home of the former employee and found more than 100,000 pieces of mail, OIG spokesman Dan Mihalko said. Some of the mail was five or six years old, he said.

A meter reader found some of the mail on the back deck of the home last week and tipped off postal inspectors, he said.

Much of the mail appeared to be fliers and coupons, Mihalko said, but agents were sorting through it to determine whether there was any first-class mail with monetary value, such as checks, that needed to be delivered quickly.

No charges have been filed in the case yet, although agents have contacted the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The employee, whose name hasn't been released, recently resigned from the Postal Service, Mihalko said.