Is your mail missing? USPS is seeing mailbox thefts in the Mountain Lodge area

SAN ANTONIO — When Randy Morin couldn’t find presents that were supposedly already delivered to the cluster mailbox in the Mountain Lodge neighborhood, he was hoping it was just a mix up. After all, he had an app they showed they had already been delivered, along with some important medical correspondence. 

But when he walked into his local USPS office on Tuesday, he found out they were gone for good. 

“I started speaking to several employees, including the office manager there, who all told me that there was some type of theft ring going on in our neighborhood,” Morin said. “They told me one of their postal workers witnessed a U-Haul truck unloading packages from our mailbox into their truck.”

Thieves got several Christmas presents as well as letters with Morin’s medical information. He’ll need to request lab results again. 

“These people know about… my bad cholesterol and I don’t even know it,” Morin said. 

Now Morin is more worried that other people may have been victimized and not even know it.  Earlier that month, a message from the Mountain Lodge Neighborhood Association had also warned that people were breaking into mailboxes. It said one mailbox cluster in The Oaks was broken into by a couple driving a white van. It said the individual had used a “U.S. Post Office Master Key.” 

Now Morin’s mailbox on Misty Peak had been hit as well. 

KENS 5 reached out to the United States Postal Service and the Houston Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service responded. 

The response stated “Postal Inspectors are now aware of this incident and are following up on it,” but did not contain additional details about the theft. 

KENS 5 specifically asked the U.S. Postal Service if a master key had been used and if it was possible to change locks on the cluster box to keep the thefts from happening again. USPS was not able to answer those questions today, although a USPS spokeswoman said the questions had been sent to the post office located at 20403 Encino Ledge, which delivers to the cluster box. 

Morin hopes they take action quickly. 

“I would like for USPS to take some responsibility and make sure there is now master key that is going around that these criminals have access to. Change the locks. Maybe install a camera,” Morin said.