Mail theft, missing ‘master key’ frustrate Renton neighbors

Published 10:39 am Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Mail has reportedly gone missing in Renton, and one neighborhood is not standing for it.

Sandwich boards at different entryways in the Victoria Hills neighborhood off of Benson Drive South display a warning for a pair of zip codes: “Master mail key still missing […] Police say call 911 to report mail theft […] All 98055, 98057.”

Cheryl Boudreau is the president of the Victoria Hills Homeowners Association (VHHA) who said she first learned of the compromised mail situation from another resident on Jan. 29.

“One of the folks that lives in Victoria Hills called me to say, ‘Hey, I just learned that the master mailbox key was stolen,’” said Boudreau in an interview.

In the Victoria Hills neighborhood, mail is delivered to cluster box units (CBU), which the U.S. Postal Service website describes as “a centralized unit of individually locked compartments for the delivery and collection of mail.” A CBU is either privately-owned or USPS-owned, though USPS does not sell or provide personal mailboxes.

While individual mailbox users get their own key for their own mailbox, the postal carrier uses a master key to access all of the mailboxes by either opening the entire front or back of the CBU. The resident relayed to Boudreau that a postal carrier had told them the master key had been stolen.

Within a few days, Boudreau found her own mail was missing and decided to take action.

“None of those were in the mailbox, then we find out that several mailboxes within Victoria Hills were wide open,” said Boudreau. “So I went to the [Renton] Post Office and asked to speak to the supervisor and he told me that the master key had been stolen.”

Boudreau’s missing mail eventually showed up, but not before she went to the Renton Post Office and spoke to a supervisor. According to Boudreau, the unnamed supervisor had told her that the post office does not intend to replace the master key “because it would be too expensive,” and she had been told that it affects mailboxes throughout two Renton zip codes: 98055 and 98057.

Before long, a post was made to the private Facebook group Victoria Hills Homeowners Association, informing residents of the compromised mail.

“Hello neighbors — we’ve been informed that our area has been impacted by the theft of a mailbox master key, which can allow access to multiple mailboxes. Because this involves postal security, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is the primary agency responsible for addressing mailbox access and repairs,” said the post, which included safety tips and resources from the Renton Police Department.

On Feb. 6, Boudreau posted a news update to the VHHA website, under the title “VHHA Mailbox Issue,” where she clarified that it is “not the Board or VHHA responsibility to protect mail delivery for the entire association.”

“Each of our neighbors needs to take responsibility for their own mail situation. They can go to the post office as I have and put a hold in their mail and pick it up as they are able, or they can get a P.O. Box or they can individually light a fire under the post office until this is solved,” said Boudreau in the notice.

‘Just a rumor’

When the Renton Reporter reached out the Renton Post Office for comment, one supervisor said that he was not at liberty to discuss the mail theft, and a second supervisor said the local office does not know specifics of the case due to a federal investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. When asked about the Victoria Hill signs that say that the master mail key is missing, the local supervisor called it “just a rumor.”

A spokesperson with the U.S. Postal Service told the Renton Reporter that further inquiries should be made through a Freedom of Information Act request.

As of Feb. 23, there were several U.S. Postal Inspection Service flyers taped to various CBU stands off of or near Talbot Road, dated Jan. 6, 2026, with the subject “Mail Theft Compromise Notification,” and the case number 4549624 attached. The flyer informs residents of “a possible mail theft incident” and includes a QR code for residents to report missing mail to mailtheft.uspis.gov.

In the meantime, residents have been offered safety tips from the Renton Police Department, which were shared to the VHHA website and Facebook group. Tips and resources include signing up for the USPS Informed Delivery email service, which sends daily previews of any incoming mail and packages through the USPS; reporting suspicious activity or known missing mail; picking up mail each day; staying alert in the neighborhood; and to not approach anyone deemed suspicious.

For Victoria Hills resident Kevin Albers, signing up for Informed Delivery was what led his family to conclude that their mail had most likely been stolen. Albers told the Renton Reporter that he was expecting a big order of custom Shutterfly calendars in late January and that they never showed up despite coming up in the daily preview.

“Five of them were supposed to be in the mailbox and a couple of days later, there was nothing there. We assumed it was part of the mail theft,” said Albers, who said that he had helped a VHHA board member look through some security camera footage of the nearby CBU, but “couldn’t find anything.”

Albers said his household now checks their mail more frequently, adding that they were told they could set up a P.O. Box to be “extra careful.” However, Albers said that accessing a P.O. Box during business hours would be “difficult” for his household.

Boudreau told The Reporter that she is now paying for a P.O. Box.

“I’m encouraging our neighbors to do the same, but it’s $216 for a P.O. Box for a year, and a lot of people can’t afford that,” she said, adding that “you look at a lot of elderly people in our subdivision and this is tax season so people are concerned.”

Mail theft has been a problem beyond Renton. There have been other recent reports of stolen mail, including a March 2 Facebook post from the City of Covington. The post details five adults from the Hobart area who were booked into jail, with the city reporting that investigators had recovered “hundreds to thousands of pieces of stolen mail and related items” from the house where the adults were staying.

While federal investigations take time, Boudreau said that there has been little to no communication with the neighborhood’s residents.

Referring to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service flyer, Boudreau said: “One person in my subdivision of 141 homes found two copies on the ground in her driveway. No one else I spoke with ever saw a notice. In my opinion this is inexcusable. The letter uses weasel words like ‘possible mail theft.’ They know mail has been stolen. They know the key was stolen. The letter also states ‘the United States Postal Service … is committed to protecting the nation’s mail system from criminal misuse.’ Well, that commitment is falling flat.”