In August of 2006, an attorney in our nation’s capitol received an order from Overstock.com and recycled the shipping carton outside her office door.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about this event, except that the same shipping carton was returned to her office again … in December of 2007.

“I came into work last week, to see a carton from Overstock sitting in my office,” said Suzanne Perry. “I thought I must have forgotten that I ordered something else for the holidays, so I opened up the box.”

To her surprise, she found several wrapped Christmas presents addressed to a variety of names, with the giver signed as “Daddy Rick.”

“My brother’s name is Rick, so at first, I thought they were presents from him, but the deeper into the box I looked, I realized that I didn’t know any of these other names,” she said.

Perry, an attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Baker and McKenzie, began asking around her office to see if anyone knew from where the package had arrived. She checked the label, and called UPS to track the package number. She found that the label and tracking number were the same ones used when the original package was delivered to her a year and a half earlier from Overstock.

“UPS was able to tell me that the box originated this time from somewhere in Wilmington, Ohio, on December 21 of this year,” Perry said. “But the mailing label and other details had apparently fallen off, leaving my old shipping label exposed.”

A customer service agent of UPS said that finding the shipper with the limited information available on the carton will be “ … like trying to find a needle in a very large haystack.” The agent also suggests that, for privacy reasons, it is always important to remove the address and tracking labels before disposing of a shipping carton.

“The gifts inside the box are labeled to a variety of names by the sender, including Kelsey, Taylor, Peyton and Erin,” Perry said. “There is also a package from ‘Nana to Kelsey,’ and an aunt and uncle’s names are included on the labels.”

Perry said that one package had come partially open in the box, and if the sender can identify what was in that package, and can name the aunt and uncle, she will make sure the package is returned to its rightful owner.

She has run her search for the sender all the way to the Blogville Forum on the Wilmington News Journal’s web site, looking for clues to the identity of the sender. So far, that has not turned up anyone claiming the gifts.

“I’ve had a couple of joke emails from co-workers claiming the package as theirs, but I know they are teasing me,” she said. “I’ve checked with my secretary to see if she knew who might have taken the recycled box for another use, but no one has an answer.”

It is not often in this day and age that someone in another state would go to the trouble of seeking out the owners of lost items, but this is important to Perry. She wants to see these kids receive what Daddy Rick sent for them.

In order to help Perry find the gifter or the recipients, without releasing her private information, emails can be sent to suncat2008@gmail.com. If you can answer the two identifying questions regarding the names of the aunt and uncle and the contents of the package listed above, we will contact Perry so that she can make return arrangements.