Editor’s note: The MDJ counts down the Top 10 local stories of 2024 as determined by newsroom staff. Today’s installment is No. 6.
Missing packages, washed checks, delivery delays — Marietta residents were put through the ringer by their local United States Post Office this year.
The MDJ began receiving such reports from readers in December 2023. Most alarming among them was the tens of thousands of dollars worth of checks residents said were swiped from the Lawrence Street U.S. Post Office and cashed by unintended recipients.
Local business owner Don Munns said over the course of six months last year, he sent four checks totaling just under $30,000 to his P.O. box inside the Marietta Post Office on Lawrence Street.
All them ended up stolen.
A local doctor, Joe Phillips, said he sent a $10,000 check — a donation meant for Marietta First Baptist Church — that ended up washed. Marietta-based lawyer Victor Valmus reportedly sent a $3,350 check stolen on Nov. 2 after being sent through the Marietta Post Office.