Missing mail leaves residents in Laveen neighborhood concerned

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- In Laveen, there's been something odd happening in one particular neighborhood. Someone has been messing with the mail of people in the neighborhood, and now, one resident thinks she's figured out who.

"People have been complaining about it," said Dixie Chapman. She has lived in her neighborhood for 35 years, and she knows when something is not right.

"When I'm walking the dogs out in the field, I find everybody's mail out there," said Chapman.

This had been going on for a month, so she decided to get cameras installed last weekend. It didn't take long to figure out what was happening.

Fast forward to New Year's Eve...

"I saw my mailbox was open, and I hadn't gotten my mail on the 31st," said Chapman.

So, she took a piece at the footage, and at 11:27 p.m., a man and a woman were walking up the street and canvassing the mailbox. The woman veered off, as the man with a cigarette in hand took a nonchalant peek. He walks away, casually discarding what he doesn't want.

"He kept something of mine, because he put it under his arm," said Chapman.

Another angle shows the two of them handing each other something, and then, the man opened another mailbox.

What are they looking for?

For neighbors, the concern is about personal information getting into the wrong hands.

"My neighbor south of me found somebody's bank statement and had a name and address on it, so she took it back to that person," said Chapman.

Taking mail that's not yours is a Federal offense that is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison. In an ironic twist, with all the recent concerns over "porch pirate" thieves, Chapman says they've been left alone at her gate the entire time.