Chiming in to say “do NOT mess with her mail”. That’s a federal offense in the US. The only time I’ve messed with someone else’s mail is when it was misdelivered, and then I just stuck in the mailbox and went on my merry way. I would be quite angry if someone decided to take it upon themselves to empty my mailbox.
That being said, I agree with the rest of the thread that if you’re really worried, knock on her door. The cops won’t do much for a welfare check beyond look in the windows - although if she died elsewhere (like in a car wreck) they might tell you that. (Probably not, but maybe)
They do this at my place …every few months they leave a copy of the Times Union on my front step. It literally goes from the ground to my trash can, I never even take it out of the plastic. Calling them to make them stop just gets you a hard sell.
Exactly. Only for us it’s two or three dailies. I think one must be ads, but the other is The Chicago Tribune, a real newspaper. I dunno, maybe the previous tenant subscribed, but we’ve been living here for three years now…
The second week we were here, we left a large cardboard box in front of the three mailslots at the front door, on the inside. Now we sort our mail standing there, and junk goes right in the big box, and when the big box is full, someone carries it to the recycling bin and dumps it. The neighbors use it, too. Every so often when my daughter wants to paint or work with clay, she goes downstairs and fetches a newspaper out of the discard box to drape the table with. Otherwise, the stuff doesn’t even make it upstairs. Best system ever.
Hey! I only stopped maybe three months ago, and part of the decision not to renew was the whole Sun Times photographer fiasco, otherwise, I would probably still be getting a paper.
And, yeah, don’t touch my mail. Around here, we arrange for neighbors to do that, if we need that help, but would never dream of just taking somebody’s mail without a previous arrangement. That’s just bizarre.
I go out of town for months at a time and would never tell my neighbors. Sometimes one will offer to pick up the newspaper ads that are flung into every yard, but they seldom follow through. Spreading the word that you’re not going to be home seems like asking for trouble, and nosing around someone’s property or calling the police is not appropriate, especially when you don’t even know the person.
I know my neighbors for about 2 houses each way, and those across the street. When we or they go on vacation, we tell each other. Our standard notification is “shoot anyone you see in the house!” With one exception, we’ve all been here 20+ years, so we have a handle on what’s normal and expected.
While she’s probably on vacation or been called away for a family emergency or started traveling for her job, I’d have the police check things out. Women do go missing all too frequently, and if it were my sister or whatever, I’d like someone looking for her sooner rather than later.
Less likely, but quite possible is she is there and dead. My biggest fear when I’m here all alone isn’t burglars or tornadoes or gas leaks, it’s choking. I can’t tell you how pissed off I’ll be when, after all the skydiving, shootouts, rafting, and adventuresome shit I’ve done for 50 years ends with me choking on a fucking roast beef sandwich while watching how they make ropes on Modern Marvels.
People do fall, choke, or have medical issues, and die without anyone knowing for a while.
I know it’s kind of the worst case scenario for this situation, but it happens.
Please go knock - and smell - and call the cops if you don’t get an answer.
When she gets back from Las Vegas next week, introduce yourself and make a friend.
Maybe she’ll find ***your ***body someday!
If it has been under a week, I’d do nothing. Once it’s over a week you can do your own “wellness check” and that’s exactly what I would do. Keep in mind, trespassing is being somewhere you don’t have a legal right to be and where you don’t have permission to be. If I walk through my neighbor’s yard right now, I’m not trespassing. If I walk up to his door or windows, I’m not trespassing*. I do not have a right to do those things, but he’s never said I can’t do those things or said I could do those things. The default is you can in fact walk up to someone’s house or walk through their yard for brief periods and not be committing any crime.
If the homeowner comes out or later tells you they heard what you were doing, and asks you to never do it again, then you would be advised to not repeat the behavior.
So with all that in mind, after a week or so has passed just walk over and knock on the door. She may have secluded herself in her home or whatever, if she comes to the door, mystery solved. If she doesn’t come to the door, check things out. You say the houses have garages, is there anyway to see into the garage without opening it? Windows or etc? If you can see into the garage and you see her car, that’s a sign of concern, because unless she had a cab or shuttle pick her up and take her to the airport or etc then that makes it more likely that she is at home but not answering for some reason (that reason could include she’s now dead.) Anyway, then walk around the house, look in the windows etc.
Do this in broad daylight, don’t feel like you are doing anything wrong. If confronted by someone, explain the neighbor has been gone and you’re checking on them. If you don’t observe anything through any of the windows, you can then call the police–but it’s unlikely they will do much more than what I just told you to do. They might go into the residence if they find an unlocked door.
*Unfortunately I’m familiar with the common law history of trespass and how what I just said is a simplification of a certain type of trespass. But generally in the United States even a layman like myself can advise that walking in a neighbor’s yard where they have never told you that you may not do so would not typically constitute a misdemeanor trespass offense or even be actionable as the tort of trespass.
Sitcoms have taught me many things. The first thing you should do is knock on her doors and windows repeatedly. Then, if no answer, take all of her mail and put it in a safe place. Tidy up her garbage bins, and, if you can reach it, unscrew the lightbulb on the porch in the morning and screw it back in at night. If she doesn’t respond in 2 days, and feel free to overreact and check up on her in a few hours, break into her house (quietly) and go room to room with a flashlight searching for her (body). Do not turn on the lights as there may be a gas leak or the robber could still be in there. If she’s not home, its a safe bet someone will come to her door right at that time. Disguise your voice as a woman’s and answer the door without opening it, making sure to go through her personal belongings to see what type of person she is so you can mimic any details you need to in order to fool the people at the door. Odds are, they will be debt collectors, an ex-boyfriend with anger issues, or the mob. If they refuse to leave, wear a wig and stand in front of the curtains with a light shining behind you to give you the silhouette of a woman (wear her bra to achieve a more womanly figure) and angrily demand them to leave. Never call the police as there’s no time. Lastly, look through her stuff to find a phone number of some kind you can call, then, mimicking her voice again, make that call and try to act all nonchalant while trying to get the person on the other end to describe where you might be. By this time, she will have either come home and caught you in the act (still in her bra and wig) or her dead body will have fallen conveniently from the ceiling where it was stored
No need to be so judgemental. Besides, what you’re describing - while rarely prosecuted - is a federal crime.
I’m friendly with, and would go far enough as to say I care about, my neighbors. That doesn’t mean I’m taking their Victoria’s Secret mags or utility bills.
If she were dead, either in her home or the closet of a guy she met in a bar; wouldn’t her employer be looking for her? I’ve had an employee no-show (sleeping in due to hangover or flu) and we are calling, concerned, after two hours.
I was thinking the same thing.:dubious:
Maybe it is a weekly free local paper, we have one here. It gets tossed on my drive way (or in the ditch, grass, trees…) and I just pick it up and put it straight in the recycling
You don’t know her at all, and some of these suggestions, taking in her mail and newspapers, looking in the windows, etc, could be misinterpreted as creepy stalker behavior. I think I’d be uncomfortable if I went somewhere for a few days and my neighbor did that to me, even though they did mean well. If you knew her better it’d be different.
