New Clues in FedEx 'Debacle' in Alabama

Update: Looks like they have the who—now they just need the why. On Monday, the Blount County Sheriff's Office in Alabama revealed it had identified and questioned the FedEx driver who'd dumped hundreds of packages in a ravine outside Hayden. The unnamed driver had ditched packages at the ravine "at least six times, making FedEx a victim of six different Theft of Property cases," the sheriff's office noted. It added that it suspected the packages belonged to about 450 or so individual recipients, both in the county and outside it, and that the "debacle" would "not be an easy or fast case to close." A FedEx statement said that the driver is no longer working for FedEx Ground and is cooperating with authorities, reports USA Today. The statement added that the company is trying to get packages to their recipients where possible and reach a "resolution" with all, per CNN. Our original story from last week follows:

An Alabama sheriff is trying to figure out how hundreds of FedEx packages ended up dumped in the woods. An estimated 300 to 400 packages of various sizes were found in a ravine near the small town of Hayden on Wednesday, the Blount County Sheriff's Office said in a statement, the AP reports. Deputies were sent to guard the scene about 30 miles north of Birmingham until FedEx workers could arrive to pick up the packages, Sheriff Mark Moon said. FedEx sent multiple trucks and drivers from across the South to load the packages, Moon said.

Photos posted on the sheriff's Facebook page show the packages strewn about the forest and piled at the bottom of a wooded hillside. Natasha Abney told WBMA that her neighbor found the boxes on his property. "I mean it was just a river of boxes," Abney said, "some busted open, some not." The sheriff said he hoped to have answers soon. "We are taking steps to recover and transport the affected packages as quickly as possible," FedEx, based in Memphis, Tenn., said in a statement provided Friday. "In addition to cooperating with law enforcement, we are conducting a review of this situation and will take the appropriate action." (More FedEx stories.)