Explosives found in at least 3 mailboxes

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - FOX10 is digging deeper after an 80-year-old woman out of Theodore found a suspicious device in her mailbox, off Oak Dr.

The woman took the device to the sheriffs office Thursday, leading authorities to evacuate the area and detonate it on-site.

“I decided to get up yesterday and take it down there. (The bomb) scared them all to death, and they cleared the building and the parking lot and everywhere else,” said Bobbye Godwin, who found the device.

Deputies told FOX10 they’ve seen those same devices in several other mailboxes in just the last few days.

“I know I’ve seen three different instances where they have done this. And in each case, it's been a situation where they have taken gun powder from numerous smaller firecrackers, packed it into a larger tube and detonated it,” said Sgt. Joe Mahoney with MCSO.

Deputies said most of these cases are pretty similar.

Just up the street from Godwin’s home we found another woman who didn’t want to be identified, but claims she too found a pipe bomb She says the device actually detonated inside her mailbox off Magnolia avenue.

“I found the pipe bomb and i found the mail box , and I went and I bought me a new mailbox. I just put up my new mailbox,” she said.

The woman, who said she is a 30 year veteran of the postal service, said she's never seen anything like it.

Authorities said the case has been turned over to the FBI, although officials tell FOX10 they have strong leads in the Theodore case.