Burns residents retrieve mail left in baskets by road

Levi Johnson found four full baskets of mail sitting on the ground beside the mailboxes in his Burns neighborhood on Tuesday evening. The discovery followed a search for prescription medication for his four-month-old child. The U.S. Postal Service app showed the order as delivered, but the family mailbox remained empty.

Johnson and his wife, Jordynne Miller, first visited the post office to speak with the postmaster about the missing medication. The postmaster pulled up tracking information and used Google Maps to check the delivery coordinates. He noted the location was not near the Johnsons' home. He promised to contact the carrier to retrieve the items and called no one back.

Johnson checked the mailbox twice more that day. At approximately 7 p.m., he found the medication inside the box along with other delayed items. He also spotted four post office baskets full of packages and mail sitting beside the boxes. He decided not to leave them in the road and loaded them into his pickup truck to take home.

Jordynne posted about the discovery in a local Facebook group to notify residents. She received multiple messages from neighbors who had been missing mail for weeks. She also received a text from the carrier responsible for the baskets. The worker asked if she could come pick them up that night, but it was 10:30 p.m. The couple agreed to return the crates in the morning.

Johnson returned the baskets to the post office the next day. He also contacted the recipients of two Amazon packages found in the baskets. One man picked up his package after work. The other recipient was out of town and planned to collect hers upon her return. The postmaster sighed and put his face in his hands when Johnson brought the baskets in.

The carrier told the couple she had been reorganizing mail in her car. She set the baskets on the ground and forgot about them. Johnson acknowledged that people get tired but noted there was no apology. He raised concerns about sensitive items like checks being left unattended. He asked what would happen if financial documents were left out in the open.

The family has received the medication and some other missing items but is still waiting for regular paper mail. This includes bank debit cards. Johnson said the family has not found any of that stuff yet. He questioned what training carriers receive. He said he does not wish for anyone to lose their job, but he believes mail should not be left on the side of the road.

The U.S. Postal Service spokesman and the Burns Post Office did not respond to requests for comment by publication time. The incident highlights the gap between digital delivery confirmations and physical receipt of mail. The Johnsons now have most of their expected items, but some correspondence remains unaccounted for.