LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — When Sean Stoops and his family returned to their Summerlin home recently following a holiday trip, something wasn't right. Stoops knew he should have received some pieces of mail, but nothing was in his box.
"I saw the informed delivery emails come in, so I knew we should have had stuff in there," Stoops said. "But by the time we got home, it was all gone."
Mail theft has been a growing problem in the Las Vegas Valley lately. The topic has been popular on online message boards and social media platforms, such as Reddit and the Nextdoor app.
Channel 13 has received reports of mail thefts in recent weeks from residents in Las Vegas, Henderson, and Summerlin, in addition to the Stoops family. Trevor Hudson, a Postal Inspector based in Las Vegas, tells me thieves can be "low-level" criminals who are looking for gift cards or cash, but they can also belong to more organized outfits.
"Unfortunately, mail theft is a problem," Hudson said. "It's a growing problem here in Vegas and nationwide."
In the Las Vegas area, the U.S. Postal Service has about a half-dozen inspectors working to investigate mail crimes. Along with mail theft, they also investigate violent crime against mail carriers, which Hudson said is also on the upswing.
In October, according to a USPS news release, a mail carrier was robbed at gunpoint for their mailbox master key in the Lone Mountain area. A few weeks prior to that, a carrier was robbed along Trail Peak Lane in Las Vegas.
"We're seeing a big increase in carriers being robbed at gunpoint," Hudson said. "It's very alarming, and it's one of the top priorities, obviously, we have here."
The Inspection Service works with local law enforcement agencies but ultimately has jurisdiction over mail-related crimes. Stoops said he followed the proper steps to report his mail theft case, but he's less than confident that the case would be solved.
"I don't know that they're doing much," Stoops said. "I've scoured Reddit and other places online, and it seems to be a consensus that they give you a form to fill out and kind of send you on your way without any feedback on if they're pursuing it or not."
Hudson declined to offer specific numbers about investigations but did say that issues are being seen in many different areas in the valley.
"There's not necessarily an area that's being targeted more than others," Hudson said.
There are things you can do to guard against those thefts. One is to check your mail every day so that mail doesn't pile up and thieves don't have more of an opportunity to steal mail at night. If you're going out of town, you can also check with the post office to make arrangements to hold your mail until you come back.
The USPS encourages those who have fallen victim to mail-related crimes to report their experiences here.
