By Jessica Rowe
Greymouth photo shop owner Drew Talboys doesn't usually go through his junk mail, but a hand-written letter with Dutch details caught his attention this morning.
“Just a couple of sentences, that the mystery will soon be revealed and acknowledged The Guardian and Grey Star and wait and see,” says Mr Talboys.
It may have been written by the same mystery person who sent four parcels from France to random recipients in Greymouth two months ago.
Each package sent from Paris contained a brand new hair dryer or clippers, $100 dollars cash and a thank you note – for what, no-one knows.
The 19-year-old Frenchman, who wishes to remain anonymous, says he sent 14 of the parcels to the West Coast, as well as 11 separate hand written messages.
Mr Talboys was one of the latest recipients.
“Here was this message from the Netherlands, full of intrigue and mystery, and so I just passed it on to the powers that be to see what they think of it,” he says.
The police are investigating, as is the Greymouth Star, which also received an anonymous email from the teen.
He told the paper he sent the parcels as a publicity stunt to promote the launch of his blog.
He wanted to make money from his website to pay his dentist bill and mortgage.
The Greymouth Mayor Tony Kokshoorn says that doesn't make any sense, as the kind gestures would not have been cheap.
“I don't think he is going to make a buck out of it. But I think at least he will know all about Greymouth and how happy we are to get dryers and cash in the mail.”
The teen said he targeted Greymouth because it had hardly any news, and his stunt would travel fast by word of mouth.
“There's never a dull day in Greymouth,” says Mr Kokshoorn.
Greymouth police say they doubt the teenager’s claims, and that he could simply be riding on the back of the mysterious parcel sender's generosity.
3 News
source: newshub archive
