SC Self Storage Operator Rescues Local Government Documents

Self storage facility operator Audrey Tyner was cleaning out an abandoned storage unit this week when she discovered a box full of documents. The documents turned out to belong to a community nonprofit organization, Community Organized for Advancement, Inc (COFA). They contained information from the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and from South Carolina’s Department of Social Services (DSS).

Tyner works at M&M Storage, in Lake City, South Carolina. COFA does not store its documents at M&M Storage. However, a person not affiliated with COFA temporarily stored belongings at a room in COFA’s offices. During the process of moving those belongings from COFA’s office to M&M Storage, movers accidentally picked up some of COFA’s boxes and moved them as well. COFA organizer Kelvin Williams told reporters for local TV station WMBF yesterday that it was a “freak accident.”

After the move, the boxes were then forgotten about and eventually abandoned with the rest of the things in the storage unit. When Tyner saw them, though, she knew that it was important to secure the documents so that no personal information that might be contained in them could be placed at risk.

“I knew something was wrong,” Tyner said in an article published by WMBF yesterday. Describing the papers she found in the boxes, Tyner explained, “They looked like medical files. Something wasn’t right about it.”

Tyner and M&M tracked down COFA by contacting the DJJ. An inspector general from the DJJ went to M&M Storage, secured the boxes of documents, and assumed responsibility for maintaining their security and returning them to COFA’s offices. Officials from the DJJ told reporters that the papers were secure and that no personal information had been compromised. The DSS, however, is still investigating.

COFA is a community counseling agency and is required by its insurance company to keep its files on hand for up to 10 years. The files that Tyner found at M&M were between five and seven years old.

Sources used:

"Boxes of DJJ, DSS documents discovered in storage unit." WISTV.com. May 12, 2010.

"Boxes of DJJ, DSS documents discovered in a storage unit." WMBF News.com. May 12, 2010.

"Self-storage manager returns documents found in Lake City unit." Inside Self-Storage. May 12, 2010.