Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Lost Before the Mail


On a bright, sunny day in OR, a single page containing two old photographs was left in the lobby of the Newport Post Office. There was no indication of whom it belonged to or where it was supposed to go.

The discovery prompted a clerk to ask Steve Wyatt, executive director of the Lincoln County Historical Society, to take a look at the piece and see if there was anything in the photos that could potentially lead the page back to its owner.

Wyatt was able to trace the photos back to World War II, but wasn’t able to find any identifying information that could help the page return home. He is hopeful that someone will be able to identify the page and provide information that will lead to its owner.

When an orphaned object is discovered in the lobby at a Postal facility, what options would you recommend to reunite the item with its owner?

2 comments:

Grannybunny said...

If there is a public bulletin board, a copy of the photographs could be placed on it for a reasonable period of time, to see if anyone claims them.

Anonymous said...

I have had people leave keys behind, and I can get them back to the owner if there is a PO Box key on the ring. But, I have had people leave their original documents in the lobby copier, and, without knowing who used the copier and with no name or address on the document, I hold it for a reasonable amount of time before I have to dispose of (shred) it.