More than 50 elementary school girls in the Southeast have received mysterious unsolicited packages in the past few month — and authorities are trying to determine who sent the parcels.
The packages, which are sent to their elementary schools, contain food, and a scrawled letter from someone identifying themselves as “Atur Bhuck of Santa Fe, NM.” The sender claims to be a disabled teen living in Roswell, New Mexico. The sender includes two email addresses, and asks the young girls to email him “as soon as possible.”
The Covington County District Attorney’s Office in Alabama issued a “Predator Alert” on Sunday.
“Just this week, two Phenix City, Alabama girls received the packages which were addressed to them in care of their elementary school,” the alert reads. “In the letters, ‘Bhuck’ wrote that he was 14 years old, mentally disabled and a target of bullying. He asked the girls to write him at either of these email addresses, atur.bhuck@gmail.com or atur.bhuck@aol.com.”
The FBI traced the email to an IP address out of Houston. That IP address has allegedly appeared on websites talking about girls’ underwear and teenage pen pals. The District Attorney’s office calls the websites “inappropriate.”
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The packages have left the recipients’ parents feeling shaken and unsafe.
“It’s terrifying. I don’t want her to be out of my sight right now,” Jena Willingham of Phenix City, Alabama told KRQE. Her daughter received a package that included a half-eaten doughnut, $3, and a church bulletin. “My husband talked to her about it and was like we’re not going to let anything happen to you. You’re safe with us and the police are going to take care of this now.”
Authorities have not released more information about Bhuck. It’s unclear how the sender selected which girls would receive the packages.
No arrests have been made.
Authorities are asking anyone who has received a package, or who has information on the sender, to call 334-222-2513.
