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SEATTLE -- At least two dozen local veterans were mistakenly told their benefits were being cut off, and it's all because the Seattle Veterans Administration ignored a big pile of mail.



It's part of KOMO News on-going investigation into the local VA.



It initially began with a tip to the VA's Inspector General alleging that more than 1,000 mailed-in forms necessary for veterans to get benefits were left sitting in a bucket for months.



What that meant for disabled veterans who relied on the local VA is that some of them were told their unemployability benefits were going to be cut off. As the KOMO Investigators showed in an earlier report, a denial or delay of either monetary or medical benefits can put some veterans and their families into a tailspin.



"You don't know what to do, you scream," said Chris Seidler, the mother of a disabled vet. "Where do you turn?"



In looking at the mishandled Seattle VA mail, the Inspector General report only reviewed a fraction of the mail that had allegedly been left sitting for months. The IG found that staff mismanaged unprocessed mail and unnecessarily proposed to veterans that they would "discontinue their individual unemployability benefits." That was in spite of having "received the questionnaires on average 66 days earlier."



With only a fraction of the mail to investigate, it's impossible to know how many veterans beyond the initial 27 were affected. But the IG determined 20 percent of the mishandled mail fell into that category.



Senator Patty Murray says she is shocked by the situation, and in a letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs said, "This is exactly the type of mismanagement and negligence that further complicates the benefits process for veterans, leading to unnecessary stress and unacceptably delaying benefits."



The local VA says it has cleared up the backlog of mail and initiated an audit process to ensure this won't happen again.