A box full of nothing

COEUR d'ALENE - Snow, sleet or rain, the mail must go through.

And come Christmas time, thieves are waiting for it.

According to a Coeur d'Alene police report, mail was taken Wednesday or Thursday from around 25 mailboxes in the Princetown and Fairborne lanes in northwest Coeur d'Alene.

A resident told police on Thursday she found several pieces of her neighbor's mail scattered on the ground. It included envelopes with Christmas cards that had been ripped open, money and gift cards taken, then tossed aside.

A police officer found a plastic bag containing several opened and unopened pieces of mail belonging to residents in the area.

The mail was gathered and returned to its correct address.

The report said a $50 Visa gift card, $25 Old Navy gift card, at least $50 cash were among missing items from the cards and envelopes. More was likely missing.

Another resident reported that two boxes of contacts valued at $260 that she ordered and was supposed to be delivered to her home never arrived. She believes it was stolen.

Mail was also reported stolen earlier this week from mailboxes in the Best Hills area east of 15th Street.

Guy Humphries, Coeur d'Alene postmaster, said before these thefts, the post office hadn't received any complaints of stolen mail this Christmas season.

Police believe thieves are checking mailboxes, then taking mail, opening it in hopes of finding Christmas gifts of cash and gift cards.

Residents are urged to collect their mail as soon as possible and watch for suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.