Suffield Woman: Brother's Remains 'Disappeared' In Postal System

SUFFIELD, CT — A Suffield woman joined U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal in calling for an end to postal service cutbacks that she said resulted in the disappearance of her brother's remains for 12 days, according to The Hartford Courant. Jean Egan said she sent the cremated remains of her brother Scott Egan, 68, a U.S. Army veteran, via two-day expedited mail to her sister in Maryland for interment earlier this month.

She was initially told that the package could take five days to arrive due to coronavirus issues. However, 12 days passed with little information about what had happened with the package, The Courant reported.

Louis DeJoy, who became postmaster general June 16, has been accused of tampering with the nation's postal service by banning overtime, removing mail sorting equipment and prohibiting extra trips by postal workers to collect mail and parcels that arrive later in the day to cut costs.

The U.S. Postal Service lost $8.8 billion in the 2019 fiscal year, more than twice what it lost the previous year, and DeJoy has said the changes are necessary to save money.

Critics have said the changes have slowed mail delivery at a time when more people are relying on the service amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and to vote by mail ahead of the Nov. 3 election.