Painting of "Queen Daisy From Belgium" and the Mystery of how it was destroyed by the United States Postal Service
Here’s the thing that I cannot get the Absecon Post Office or the Postal Inspection Office to understand: The box that I mailed out never left Absecon Post Office – ANOTHER BOX WAS SENT – WHERE IS MY BOX? AND WHERE IS THE OTHER HALF OF MY PAINTING?
This is an unbelievable crime committed. A postal worker can take a personal item – open it and destroy it and nothing can be done. The damage to my painting has been nothing compared to the damage that has been done to my soul – I cannot wrap my head around having my civil liberties violated – and being able to do nothing about it.
We are raised to believe that mail you send out is personal and private – and that you pay to have mail delivered - to the best of the ability of the postal service – we are raised to believe that tampering with or destroying someone else’s mail is a major crime – yet the postal workers themselves can commit vandalism, theft and violate civil laws and get away with it.
This time last year I was several weeks into recreating a painting that I had halfway finished for my friend Sandro over thirty years ago. I had no idea that after spending so much time and work in creating this piece of art – that it would get destroyed by a postal worker.
On November 15, 2010 I mailed my painting out of the Absecon Post Office in a box that I had purchased a few days prior from a UPS store. The dimension of the box was 24x18x6. A week later my friend Sandro called me via skype on the computer to ask if I had sent him a Christmas gift – I told him “no” and he said he had a different box than the one I showed him (we skyped an hour before I drove to the post office to send him the painting) and that it was from the United States. I told him to open it – and to our horror – it was my painting – but only the top half.
I believe someone at the Absecon Post Office of New Jersey took my painting out of the box I had bought and secured the painting in – broke the wooden frame that the canvas was wrapped on – cut the canvas in half – then repackaged the top half only in another box and mailed it to my friend Sandro in London.
Who would do such a thing? A postal worker? And Why? What follows is the story of the painting, the damage and hopefully some answers and a resolution.
This is the receipt from the purchased box that I packed the painting in. The receipt shows the dimensions of the box.
Here is the "Customs" form that I filled out - it contains the package number on it - and of course I wrote "Artwork/Painting on it - because I was told you have to write down exactly what is inside the box or it could be confiscated.
This is the Post Office Receipt showing the date and time of the mailing as well as the cost of the postage.
This is the Box that Sandro said he received a week later.
This is what was inside a different box than what I dropped off at the Post Office in Absecon. Only the top half of my painting - "Queen Daisy From Belgium"
Where is the other half? Who did this?
This is the "Claims Form" that I filled out immediately on the same day that I saw my damaged painting via skype.
After sending in the claims form, copies of receipts, copies of my painting before I mailed it out and copies of the photo showing half my painting that arrived in a different box - On November 29, 2010
I received three letters saying the following:
The first letter says that the Postal Service of Great Britain "does not have any record of delivery for this article".
Duh!!! That's because the box that I dropped off at the Absecon Post office never arrived in Great Britain.
The second letter says that the "Foreign Postal Administration cannot verify any damage or rifling to your article"
Well again "duh" - could that be because they never received my "article"?
The third letter claims that the "Postal service of Great Britain had advised us that this article was returned to you."
This is a lie - an absolute lie. First of all - nothing was returned to me and secondly - how can the Postal Service of Great Britain claim to have returned something that they said they never received?
After visits to the Absecon Post Office, filling out forms, making copies and after receiving these insulting letters I responded by writing a letter to the "International Inquiry Center" - I sent all of the above letters and copies along with this letter below:
Case Number: DE1456898
Barcode on ORIGINAL BOX SENT:
CP624792345US
December 5, 2010
International Inquiry Center
United States Postal Service
P.O. Box 39955
Denver, CO 80239-0955
Att: Terry Street
Supervisor
International Inquiry Center
AND
International Claim Processing
Accounting Services
P.O. Box 80146
St. Louis MO 63180-0146
To whom it may concern:
Attached is a copy of a receipt - dated 11/13/10 showing the dimensions of a Picture Box that I purchased from a UPS store to mail my painting in on 11/15/10. The dimensions (shown on the receipt) are 26x6x18. In this box I had wrapped the painting (16x20) in bubble wrap. I wrote my address and the address to the receiver on the back side of the frame of the painting.
Attached is a copy of my mailing packing form – the barcode on the ORIGINAL BOX that I mailed out and the number is: CP624792345US.
Attached is a copy of what the Painting would look like WHOLE – if it were mailed in ONE PIECE.
Attached is also a page with photos showing a DIFFERENT BOX than the one I sent the painting in. Also you can see the painting has been cut in half.
These photos indicate that the painting was taken out of it’s original box – cut in half – and the top half of the painting was repackaged into a different box and sent to London.
Attached is a copy of the “Domestic or International Claim form” which was filled out on Wednesday November 24, 2010 by Mr. Steven Wolicki, Postmaster of the Absecon Post office.
Attached also are copies of letters written to me by Terry Street, dated 11/29/10 Supervisor of International Inquiry Center.
In letter #1 – I am told that there was no record of this packaged # CP624792345US mailed to Great Britain. (I believe this is because the package that I mailed out never left this country – I actually believe it never left Absecon Post Office).
In letter #2 – I am told that the Foreign Postal Administration of Great Britain did not verify any damage or rifling to “your article” on package #CP624792345US (this is because again I believe they never received the box that I sent out).
In letter #3 – I am informed that the article number CP624792345US that I sent to Great Britain – has been sent back to me. (How could they send something back that they did not receive - I have not received it).
Here is what happened:
On November 13, I purchased a box sized 24x6x18 to mail out a painting sized 16x20 to : Alessandro Nardi
London England
On Tuesday *November 11, 2010 – my friend Alessandro called me on the computer (on skype video conferencing) and he showed me a box that was addressed to him – he asked me if “I had sent him something other than the painting” – he thought I was sending him a Christmas gift. The box that Alessandro received was a different box than the one I mailed out from the Absecon Post office. I told him “no” – he opened the box – and to both our surprise and horror was my painting cut in half.
I went right away to the Absecon Post Office in New Jersey and spoke with the Postmaster named, Stephen Wolicki. I told him what happened. He immediately went onto the computer and put in my package number CP624792345US – and told me that there was no way my package could be in London – when according to the computer – it was still in New Jersey.
I do not think Mr. Wolicki believed me when I told him that I saw my painting on the computer (skype) – cut in half – and that it was repackaged in a different box. I went home and called Alessandro and asked him to take pictures of the painting and the box it arrived in. (the attachment is enclosed) – I printed up the photos and also saved them to a cd – I went on Wednesday November 24, 2010 – to talk with Mr. Wolicki – and showed him that in fact my painting was in London – however it was destroyed and repackaged and mailed to Alessandro Nardi in a different box from the box I mailed it out in.
Mr. Wolicki at this point went onto the computer again and told me that according to the computer my package numbered CP624792345US was still in Customs.
I am distressed at the knowledge and/or belief that someone in the United States Post Office took my painting out of the box it was mailed in – broke the frame (wooden stretcher) – then cut it (it was painted on a heavy canvas) – then repackaged the painting and mailed half of the painting to Alessandro Nardi in London.
This is not a case of something becoming lost, or stolen or even accidentally damaged. This painting that cost me a few hundred dollars in art supplies and took me over seven months to create – was taken out of the box I mailed it in and destroyed in the United States – before it even left the country. When the painting arrived in London – it was in a different box.
I believe this to be a serious crime. I think Mr. Wolicki is afraid of the possibility that this could have been done at the Absecon Post office. I don’t know if this was personal – perhaps someone working at that office knows me and does not like me. I don’t know if this is a random act of violence – perhaps by a disturbed postal worker. It is however not just a simple case of a package that has “been torn open – or items lost” stolen etc….
As to the “whereabouts” of the package numbered CP624792345US – I still do not know – nor do I have the other half of my painting that has been destroyed.
I’m not sure what avenue this has to be processed. Perhaps I need to seek legal counsel – I would appreciate any help getting to the bottom of this.
Since I have discovered that someone in the US has destroyed my painting – after I had spent so much time making it and carefully packing it to get it to London safely – I have suffered from lack of sleep – upset stomach – uncontrollable bouts of crying – and utter disbelief that something like this actually happens.
I thank you in advance for any help or direction you can give me in this matter.
Sincerely,
Marguerita Nanfara
I just realized months later - in this letter - in this spot - the "date" is a "typo" - it should read - Tuesday November 23, 2010 - however this "typo" should not have made a difference in the matter.
A few weeks later I received the following letter dated December 29,2010
Saying that my "inquiry has been processed by the Foreign Postal Administration of Great Britain and did not verify any damage or rifling to your article. Therefore, no claim for indemnity can be authorized."
Again - I cannot stress enough that "DUH" - The Great Britain Postal Authority cannot verify any damage or rifling through any article that I mailed - because the box I put a "trace" on NEVER MADE IT OUT OF ABSECON POST OFFICE OF NEW JERSEY
I then wrote a letter to "Appeal" this unbelieveable decision.
January 4, 2011
Accounting Services
International Claims Appeals
P.O. Box 80146
St. Louis, MO 63180-0146
Case Number: DE1456898
Barcode on (ORIGINAL BOX MAILED OUT ON 11/13/10) #CP624792345US
To whom it may concern:
As per the last letter from International Inquiry Center Dated December 29, 2010 – I am not satisfied with the results of my inquiry case mail crime investigation.
The letter states that my claim has been processed by the Foreign Postal Administration of Great Britain. The letter states that no claim for indemnity can be authorized because according to the post office in Great Britain, damage to my package has not been verified.
I want an appeal to this claim. I still want a trace put on my package #CP624792345US – (this box never arrived in Great Britain) – and I want the other half of my painting that has been destroyed by a Postal Worker in the US (The half of the painting that was not repackaged and sent to Great Britain).
I am formally filing a criminal complaint against the Post Office of Absecon - that I mailed a box from Absecon Post Office on November 15, 2010 – containing an original painting sized 16 x 20 in a box that measured 24 x 18 x 6 wrapped in bubble wrap. I strongly believe someone within that office took my painting out of the box that I dropped off – broke and cut it in half – then repackaged the top half of the painting and sent it to Great Britain in another box. Attached are photos showing the damaged painting in a different box than the size I mailed from the Absecon Post Office.
Of course the post office in Great Britain can’t verify any damage done to the box that I sent out because the box that I sent out never left Absecon Post office.
As I stated earlier, I want to have a trace on my box – I want the box that I dropped off at the Absecon Post office found – and I want the bottom half of my painting that was a valuable piece of artwork found and delivered back to me.
I want also to be reimbursed for the money I spent on postage as well as the money I spent at the UPS store to purchase the original box that I packaged the painting in and dropped off at the Post Office in Absecon New Jersey.
Attached are the letters sent back and forth – my original claim form filled out along with the receipt of when I mailed my original box as well as the receipt of the box I mailed out the painting in. I also attached a copy of what the painting would look like whole and a page with photos of what the painting looked liked when it arrived in Great Britain in a different box after it was destroyed and repackaged at the post office in Absecon.
When you trace the box ##CP624792345US you will come to a dead end - and that’s the Absecon Post office in New Jersey. My box was never mailed out. My painting was taken out of the box I dropped off and it’s a criminal act to have my mail – my personal belongings that I paid to have mailed by the post office to be destroyed by a postal worker. This is not a case of accidental breakage – this is a criminal case where someone destroyed my personal item that I mailed out – someone violated my civil rights – and destroyed my painting that I spent over seven months to create. I want a trace put back on that box – I want the box found and the other half of my painting that I mailed out. It never arrived in Great Britain. This is a formal criminal complaint that I am signing against the Postal Office of Absecon New Jersey. I wish to have someone look into this and I wish to have my personal item found – I am not going to ignore this without pursuing my legal civil rights which I feel have been violated.
Sincerely, Marguerita Nanfara
At this point I decided to write the Atlantic City Press to go public with my story. Coincidentally, I received this letter from the Post Office the same day. - It was addressed to just my last name and no return address was posted on either the envelope or letter. (Just "United States Postal Service")
This letter basically tells me that they were not able to locate any information in their records regarding my delivery of my package - and that I should go back to my local post office for assistance. (As if that's not where I've started - and went to again and again).
I went immediately to the Absecon Post Office. I thought to myself I was going about this the wrong way. I thought it was too much for the Postal system to handle the idea that my painting was taken out of it's original box - then cut in half - and the top half being repackaged and sent to London - was just too much for the Post Office to handle. Perhaps no Postal Postmaster wants to deal with the fact that one of his "postal workers" committed a crime - so I tried to put a "NEW TRACE ON MY ORIGINAL BOX" - I WENT BACK TO THE POST OFFICE WITH A NEW THOUGHT - FORGET ABOUT WHAT BOX ARRIVED IN LONDON - JUST FOCUS ON THE BOX THAT I SENT OUT - I WANTED TO REKINDLE THE INVESTIGATION AND LOCATE THE BOX THAT I DROPPED OFF AND MAILED OUT TO THE ABSECON POST OFFICE. MY ORIGINAL BOX AND THE BOTTOM HALF OF MY PAINTING HAS STILL NOT BEEN LOCATED AND RETURNED TO ME. WHEN I WENT INTO THE POST OFFICE - AND TRIED TO EXPLAIN TO THE POSTAL WORKER BEHIND THE COUNTER THAT I HAD PREVIOUSLY HAD A TRACE ON MY BOX - THAT I WANTED TO "RETRACE" THE BOX - MR. WOLICKI (POSTMASTER) OF THE ABSECON POST OFFICE MET ME IN THE LOBBY AFTER I WAITED FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES - HE WAS VERY COOL TOWARDS ME AND DENIED ME THE RIGHT TO PUT A NEW TRACE ON MY PACKAGE. HE SAYS A TRACE WAS ALREADY PUT ON IT - AND THAT REGARDLESS OF WHAT I THINK - IT'S TOO BAD - I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE RESULTS. I TOLD HIM THAT I FELT THE BOX NEVER LEFT THE POST OFFICE OF ABSECON. I STILL BELIEVE THAT.
This is the letter I wrote to the "Atlantic City Press"
Marguerita Nanfara
January 31, 2011
To Whom It May Concern,
Atlantic City Press of New Jersey
This is the first time I am going public with my story – I am looking for help and answers.
I’d like to report a crime that has happened to me. And I have tried to go through the proper channels and have been given the runaround.
On November 5, 2010 I mailed out a painting sized 16 x 20 inches in a box sized 24 x 6 x 18 (a picture box that I purchased at a USPS store for this purpose – receipt is attached) – at the Absecon Post Office – located on New Jersey Avenue in Absecon.
A week later, (November 15, 2010) my friend in London skyped me on the computer to ask if I had sent him another present (he saw the box via skype before I went to the post office to mail it). I told him no – he opened the box and to our horror – half my painting that I mailed out was in a different box.
I went immediately to the Absecon Post Office and spoke with Mr. Wolicki (Post Master) – he put my tracking number into the computer and told me that it was “Impossible for my painting to be in London – when the box was still in New Jersey”.
I went home and asked my friend to email me photos of my painting and the box it arrived in (the pictures are attached) – the next morning I called Mr. Wolicki and asked if I could please see him – he said he couldn’t do anything for me – I told him I had something to show him – he said I could come right over. I immediately went back to the Absecon Post Office – and waited like a fool for over a half an hour. When Mr. Wolicki finally asked me into his office he apologized and said he had to run to the other office (Pomona). I showed Mr. Wolicki my pictures of the damaged painting – again he put my tracking number into the computer and said my package had (at that moment been in “customs”).
I feel my civil rights have been violated. I put a formal trace on my package – I have sent out several letters and forms only to get back what I’ve sent out.
I strongly believe my box had never left the Absecon Post Office. On the “Customs Mailing Form” – that you have to fill out accurately because it is going through customs – I wrote that “Artwork/Painting was enclosed. I would have been heartbreaking enough if the painting was stolen. However when you trace the package – the only information you get is the date and time I dropped off my box off at the Absecon Post Office – the trail after that is cold.
Someone in the US Postal system took my painting out of it’s original box – broke the wooden frame the canvas was wrapped around – cut the canvas (it was strong you could not tear it with your bare hands) – then repackaged the painting and sent it to London.
Why would someone do such a thing? Could it be personal? Where is my box that I dropped off at the post office (the original box)? Where is the other half of my painting? These are questions that I’d like answered.
I have tried calling the “Postal Police” (Postal Inspections) – and to my amazement – I have to give out all my information – waited – put on hold through many channels – only to be told to “fill out and send” in the same form that I have (several times) – only to be sent back a letter asking for a form (which is with the letter they sent me) etc… Every time I’ve called postal inspections I could not even get the location of the office I was calling (it’s an 800 number) and supposedly when you call Postal Inspections – the person you speak with could be anywhere in the country and does not have to give you their name or location.
Finally my case according to the Postal Service is “Closed” – and no indemnity ($100 insurance – which is automatically built into the price for postage, price for postage to mail the painting and the price paid for box) – cannot be returned to me because the Great Britain Post Office cannot verify any “rifling or damage to mail that was sent”. Here’s the thing that I cannot get the Absecon Post Office or the Postal Inspection Office to understand: The box that I mailed out never left Absecon Post Office – ANOTHER BOX WAS SENT – WHERE IS MY BOX? AND WHERE IS THE OTHER HALF OF MY PAINTING?
This is an unbelievable crime committed. A postal worker can take a personal item – open it and destroy it and nothing can be done. The damage to my painting has been nothing compared to the damage that has been done to my soul – I cannot wrap my head around having my civil liberties violated – and being able to do nothing about it. We are raised to believe that mail you send out is personal and private – and that you pay to have it delivered to the best of the ability of the postal service – we are raised to believe that tampering with or destroying someone else’s mail is a major crime – yet the postal workers themselves can commit vandalism, theft and violate civil laws and get away with it.
My goal is to at least have it made public that this sort of thing happens as unbelievable as it may seem. This is not a case of a package being lost or mistakenly damaged – this is a crime and it should be brought to the public’s attention – and I hope that someone in the end would be able to help me piece this information together to tell me what happened to my painting.
A backstory to the painting: The painting is called: “Queen Daisy from Belgium” because that is my name in “translation” (Marguerite Regina Belger – my given birth name) it is a portrait of me. I am a lifelong resident of Atlantic City and Galloway. The painting was actually started for a pen pal that I have been writing to off and on since the eighth grade. Last year he happened to ask me “what ever happened to the painting you were making for me?” (I had started the painting when I was 17 – I never finished it – and it was destroyed during the hurricane “Gloria” when my then apartment on Trenton Avenue in Atlantic City was flooded. So last year I promised to “repaint” the painting. It took me over seven months (the painting took over my life) – I then hung the painting in the Galloway Township Library for two long months before purchasing a box to mail it to London. My Pen Pal, Sandro Nardi – lives in both London and Italy. (He is originally from Italy) He is converting his apartment building into a “Bed and Breakfast” and my repainted painting was to hang in the “Lobby” to the restaurant and bar which will eventually hang other artworks of mine. At the end thirty years later, I was hoping that my friend Sandro would finally receive his gift. However thanks to the Absecon Post Office that did not happen. And if I feel stupid enough about mailing original artwork – which cost more to make in art supplies and time – I never dreamed that this would happen. I have become sick over this – and I hope no one else will have to experience their personal property destroyed so blatantly by the post office without so much as an apology or some effort to investigate who among them did such a crime.
So who ever this letter reaches – I hope you have had the time to have read it. And I thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
Sincerely,
Marguerita Nanfara
Below is a link to the article that Jennifer Bogden (Atlantic City Press staff writer) wrote and published - hoping to bring this situation to the knowledge of the general public - and hopefully - the Postal Office in Absecon will investigate this and get to the bottom of it.
Below are photographs of the article that was published by "The Atlantic City Press"
About a week after I spoke with the reporter for "The Press of Atlantic City" A Ms. Bowdry called me from the International Claims Processing to tell me that they were trying to reimburse me and needed to know the value of the painting. I told her that because it was a "made" item and not purchased - the value was intangible. She told me to write down the costs of supplies, hours worked on it and the cost per hour etc... She told me to send it in so that my claim could be filed.
A week went by and she called me again because I did not have time to write down the actual value of the painting. (By the way if you ever get a phone call from a "claims" department in the postal service you will not see a caller ID number) - She said she needed me to send in the amount I spent on supplies and time spent making the painting. Below is the letter I sent to her:
Marguerita Nanfara
International Claims Processing
P.O. Box 80146
St. Louis, MO 63180-0146
Attention Ms. Barbara Bowdry
Dear Ms. Bowdry,
Attached are copies of past letters I have sent out along with a receipt for the price of the box I purchased to mail out my painting as well as the mailing receipt (which has all the information on it – mailing label, price for postage – addresses etc). Copies of past letters along with copies of forms along with a picture of what my painting looked like whole and photos of how it arrived in London.
You had asked me to the best of my ability to tell you how much the painting was worth – what it cost to make – the cost of supplies and materials – including the cost of mailing and this is what I figured out.
It took me from January 4, 2010 until July 10, 2010 to make this painting. I spent approximately (mostly more) than 20 hours of week working on it.
Broken down here is the cost of the painting:
20 hours a week for 27 weeks is 540 hours
I calculate $20 an hour
So the time to create my painting costs $10,800 (a)
A 16 x 20 Winsor & Newton Deep Artist’s Canvas (at AC Moore where I bought the last one) costs: $25.62 (b)
Gumbacher Academy Paints (12 pk) costs $61.39 (c)
Basic Acrylic Paints (6 pk) costs $38.46 (d)
Box to mail painting cost: $9.62 (e) copy of receipt attached
Cost of Postage to mail painting: 37.15 (f) copy of receipt attached
So total cost of my time, supplies and postage is: 10,800.00 (a)
25.62 (b)
61.39 (c)
38.46 (d)
9.62 (e)
37.15 (f)
_________
10,972.24
I am an award winning Artist/Photographer. This painting was not for sale – It was destroyed (I strongly believe) by a Postal Worker at the Absecon Post Office in New Jersey. A lot of work went into this painting. This painting is actually the culmination of six paintings put together. (The moon, crown, butterfly, sun, oyster shell – are all individual paintings within the painting) The painting was beautiful – I still would like to know who would commit such a heinous act and where is the other half of my painting?
What is not reflected in these figures it the intangible cost of being violated due to a Postal Worker blatantly going into my personal mail and destroying a beautiful piece of Artwork that took months to create. Having my civil rights broken – has taken a terrible toll on me these past months. This has affected nearly every aspect of my personal life. I have not been able to sleep, eat, I have had a terrible time dealing with the fact that someone did this to me – and I have spent countless hours on a letter writing campaign – just trying to get to the bottom of this and to make sense of it and to hopefully make it right.
This is an unbelievable crime committed. A postal worker can take a personal item – open it and destroy it and nothing can be done. The damage to my painting has been nothing compared to the damage that has been done to my soul – I cannot wrap my head around having my civil liberties violated – and being able to do nothing about it.
We are raised to believe that mail you send out is personal and private – and that you pay to have it delivered to the best of the ability of the postal service – we are raised to believe that tampering with or destroying someone else’s mail is a major crime – yet the postal workers themselves can commit vandalism, theft and violate civil laws and get away with it.
Sincerely,
Marguerita Nanfara
Immediately after I mailed out this letter - not expecting to hear again from the Claims Dept. I received both a check for $110.38 and in a separate envelope (the same day) a letter explaining that I received less than the value of my package because that's all I had coverage for.
So there you have it. After a lot of letter writing - I was able to bring to the public's attention - about the post office destroying my painting - however still uncovered is who did it, why they did it and where is the other half of the painting.
I GUESS AT THE END OF THE DAY I REALIZE WHAT A MISTAKE IT IS TO MAIL ANYTHING OF IMPORTANCE. I FEEL THAT IF THE PAINTING WAS LOST OR STOLEN I WOULD HAVE FELT STUPID FOR MAILING IT - THAT THAT IS ONE OF THE RISKS YOU TAKE.
HOWEVER I NEVER EXPECTED SOMEONE FROM A POSTAL SERVICE TO OPEN MY PACKAGE TAKE OUT THE PAINTING AND SEND HALF. THIS NOT ONLY MAKES ME FEEL STUPID BUT VIOLATED AS WELL.
TO THE SICK TWISTED FUCK OUT THERE THAT DESTROYED MY PAINTING YOU ARE A LOSER!!!!
