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Recovered mail sent back home You ran a story about stolen mail recently that raised some questions in my mind. When the U.S. Postal Service receives mail that has been stolen, does it attempt to redeliver it? Do they get lots of mail that has the contents separated from envelope and thus is undeliverable? What do they do with the envelopes that show so-and-so should have received something from so-and-so? Do the envelopes sit forever in some pile in the back of the post office? -- Lynda K., Grants Pass Your local Postal Service office does everything it can to return stolen mail to its original destination, Lynda. Rogue River Postmaster Bob Leedy says people who find stolen mail often bring it to the nearest post office, which may be miles from where it was stolen. As you might imagine, mail that has been lying in a ditch for days or weeks isn't the easiest to decipher. "There's stuff all the time that we can't identify," says Leedy. Postal employees sort the recovered mail -- and mail fragments -- and send the remains to the original addressees along with a note explaining that the mail was recovered. Envelopes that have a decipherable address are returned even if their contents have disappeared. Leedy says there's plenty of bits and pieces that can't be matched to any address. Those pieces go into the trash. (Send your questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; or by fax to (541) 776-4376; or by e-mail to: [email protected] Please include your name, address and phone number for verification.) Today's News Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA