BENTONVILLE — A 34-year-old Arkansas woman remained in jail Thursday, days after authorities found her in possession of mail and packages belonging to dozens of other people, according to court documents.
Eleanor Francis Repper of Fayetteville is being held in the Benton County after her Dec. 27 arrest on preliminary charges including breaking or entering, theft of property and possession of a controlled substance. Formal charges haven't yet been filed.
Repper's arrest stems from a report of a person stopping her car and going through mailboxes on West Rozell Street in Rogers, according to court documents.
Eric Cline, a Rogers police officer, went to the area and saw Repper throwing several cardboard packages, which appeared to be from Amazon, into a trash can, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Cline approached Repper and began to question her. She told him she was throwing away some of her mail, the affidavit states. Cline noticed numerous other packages inside of Repper's vehicle, according to court documents.
Repper later told the officer she had looked through mailboxes and said she is going through a "rough time," according to the affidavit. She also admitted the mail inside her car did not belong to her, the affidavit states.
Police recovered the packages from the trash can, and her car was taken to the police department, according to court documents.
Repper was questioned by detectives and admitted to stealing mail and packages from several different locations in Northwest Arkansas, according to court documents. She also admitted she had multiple credit cards, gift cards and checks that she had stolen from the mail, according to the affidavit.
Detectives searched Repper's vehicle and found merchandise in its original packaging, Amazon packaging and large amounts of mail not addressed to Repper, according to the affidavit. The items were addressed to more than 70 individuals in cities in Benton and Washington Counties, according to court documents.