BATON ROUGE - One man contacted 2 On Your Side after he says the post office didn't take his concerns seriously and fears the rules and protocols were not followed.

On February 9, Ray Acardo didn't get his mail. According to the Informed Delivery app, he was expecting two packages and three First Class pieces of mail. The packages came but the letters did not. One of them was a Discover credit card.

When the mail didn't arrive the next day, he filed a report with his post office, but his request was closed. He filed another one, and that was closed out too. There was no mail on February 13 either. A third service request was filed and closed out. By now, he's missing 10 pieces of First Class mail including a check and a gift card.

Frustrated and concerned, Acardo contacted the Baton Rouge Postmaster, who then contacted the Woodlawn Post Office station manager.

"He communicated to me via phone call that he was on Boulevard de Province where there's a lot of apartments, looking in dumpsters," said Acardo.

Acardo says the station manager also told him he was riding around checking mailboxes to see if anyone had received mail. At that point, alarm bells were going off in Acardo's head.

"If you're looking in dumpsters, it would probably be a good time to be calling postal inspectors, because that means you suspect the mail might have gotten thrown away or something bad has happened here," said Acardo.

Acardo says the station manager communicated to him that the mail carrier called in sick to work on February 14 and was unreachable by phone. That's when Acardo decided to file his own report with the Office of the Inspector General.

For 12 years, Acardo worked with the United States Postal Service and had his own delivery route in Baton Rouge. He says he's well informed about the rules and regulations of the postal service, and the response to his concerns lacked accountability.

While his mail went missing, Acardo says his usual mail carrier was on vacation and someone had been filling in. When the mail carrier returned to the route Acardo says she was approached by several residents about their missing mail.

"Everyone was telling her, I'm missing mail, I'm missing mail," said Acardo.

He fears this situation affected everyone along the route over three delivery days in several neighborhoods. Acardo wants people to know in the event they are missing personal items or need to cancel cards and checks.

The USPS says if any victims of mail theft are identified they will be notified, but could not confirm or deny any information related to a possible ongoing investigation by the Office of the Inspector General. Acardo did receive an email from the OIG saying the information he submitted is being reviewed.

The U.S. Postal Service employs more than 625,000 employees and is the largest civilian federal workforce in the country.  This type of alleged behavior within the Postal Service is not tolerated and the overwhelming majority of Postal Service employees, which serve the public, are honest, hardworking, and trustworthy individuals who would never consider engaging in any type of criminal behavior. 

If you suspect any wrongdoing by a US Postal Service employee, visit the USPS website and submit a Hotline Complaint here.