Canada Post officials say they have no idea what happened to a valuable collection of hockey cards that went missing after being accepted for shipping at its Shoppers Drug Mart outlet on Gibson Drive in Mount Pearl, NL.
As originally reported by Terry Roberts in the March 8th, 2010 issue of The Telegram in St. John's, NL, Canada Post has no explanation for the missing hockey card collection. "We've done everything we could. It's nowhere to be found," Canada Post spokesperson Genevieve Latour said Friday.
Hockey card fanatic Joe Yetman of St. John's is willing to pay a $2,500 cash reward to anyone who can provide information on the whereabouts of the cards.
Yetman has been collecting hockey cards since he was seven and has accumulated quite a large collection. He has had multiple rookie cards of Hall of Famer's Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard, and Wayne Gretzky. He also has more than one collection of some valuable sets and recently decided to sell some to help pay for a high school graduation gift for his son.
He recently sold a rare set of 1957 Parkhurst hockey cards on eBay for $5,000 to another collector in Thunder Bay, ON. There were 50 cards featuring players from the Toronto Maple Leafsand the Montreal Canadiens. Included in the set were Frank Mahovlich and Henri Richard rookie cards as well as players such as Maurice Richard, Dick Duff, Charlie Hodge, Bernie Geoffrion and George Armstrong.
He's made many similar transactions over the years with no problems but things were different this time. After receiving the payment from the buyer, Yetman took the set to his local Canada Post outlet on January 2nd, 2010. Confident that the package would reach its destination, Yetman insured the item for $1,100, well below its actual value.
"After sending cards Xpresspost for over 10 years with no problems, I figured there would not be any issues," Yetman said. Ten days later, Yetman said he received an e-mail from the buyer saying he hadn't received the cards.
Yetman checked the tracking number on the package which showed it was received by Canada Post. However, it's now been more than two months and the package still hasn't turned up.
Latour said it's possible the package could have been stolen. She said postal inspectors have carried out an investigation but with no positive results. "We do apologize. This was an unfortunate incident," she said. "It's not the type of result we like to have. We try to deliver on time, all the time, and we do that over 95 per cent of the time."
Yetman had to return the $5,000 to the buyer and has lost some confidence in Canada Post but he'll make sure to insure his packages for the full value in the future. Canada Post has settled Yetman's insurance claim, but he's still out several thousand dollars.
If you or someone you know has any information regarding the missing cards, please contact the The Telegram at telegram@thetelegram.com
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