Updated

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- The United State Postal Service has recovered approximately 20,000 pieces of mail from the garage of a Philadelphia postal carrier.

Special Agent Scott Balfour says it took three mail trucks to remove the letters from the home of an unidentified letter carrier who worked in the city's Bustleton neighborhood.
Balfour says some of the mail dates back to 1997.

Postal officials say they recovered the mail on April 28 and it was being delivered to customers this week.

Balfour wouldn't comment on what prompted the investigation but said the postal carrier hadn't been to work since February.

Balfour says postal inspectors are still trying to find the man so they can question him.