A stolen master key put 70,000 Marysville residents at risk. Now neighbors are spending thousands of dollars to catch mail thieves police can’t stop.
MARYSVILLE, Wash. — Residents in Marysville’s Rock Creek Estates neighborhood are spending thousands of dollars on security equipment to combat a wave of mail theft that has plagued the community for years.
Mailboxes in the neighborhood have been broken into eight times since the beginning of the year alone.
Neighbors say the problem traces back to 2.5 years ago, when a set of master mailbox keys was stolen in Marysville, putting more than 70,000 people at risk. Authorities believe the keys have since been duplicated using 3D printers and sold on the street, allowing thieves to unlock entire banks of mailboxes and drive away.
“They act like they know nobody is gonna be coming after them,” said one neighbor.
Residents have responded by installing sensors inside the boxes that send alerts to their phones, mounting license plate readers and remote cameras on their homes, and adding a 120-decibel alarm that sounds when a bank of mailboxes is illegally opened.
“So right when they open up, it alerts us to know they are here,” one resident said.
One neighbor, who asked not to be identified for his family’s security, said he has invested thousands of dollars in the effort — but the problem persists.
“We’re getting the police pictures of all the vehicles they’re using, pictures of the people who are doing it,” he said. “I’m not sure what else we can do to help them figure this out.”
The alarm has shown some results. In one recent incident, a thief closed the mailboxes and drove away before police could arrive — a small victory in what residents describe as a never-ending battle.
“It’s kind of like, where do you go from here,” the neighbor said. “Is this something we just need to accept?”
Marysville police say these cases are difficult because officers often must catch suspects in the act. However, after being contacted by KING 5, the department assigned what it calls a “proactive team” to review surveillance video from the neighborhood with an emphasis on identifying suspects.
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