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Army mom says USPS destroyed 300 ounces of breast milk after shipping mistake

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina mother and Army officer said the United States Postal Service lost 300 ounces of her breast milk, which she sent frozen for overnight delivery.

Lauren Carroll, of Fayetteville, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that USPS claimed the package was damaged and sent to a mail recovery center, where it was destroyed for being a perishable item.

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Carroll has two children and is a logistics officer with the U.S. Army, WTVD reported.

She said in a Facebook post she was called to active duty and had to move her family from Fayetteville to Pennsylvania.

She said in a post on Facebook that she took her 7-month-old son, while her husband, an active duty officer stationed at Fort Bragg, stayed in Fayetteville with their daughter.

Once she was settled in to their home in Pennsylvania, Carroll said her son needed the frozen breast milk.

Carroll said her husband took the 300 ounces of frozen breast milk to the Fayetteville Post Office and paid $122 for the package to be overnighted and insured.

"He packed it in a Styrofoam cooler, packed it in dry ice, told them what it was and explained it," she told WTVD. "And they were pretty good with him about it. They knew what it was."

According to USPS tracking, the package was shipped to California and hasn’t been seen since.

Carroll said the frozen milk was enough to feed her son for 20 days.

In a statement to WTVD, USPS said it "sincerely apologized" and provided a refund.

“As one of the largest employers of military veterans and their families, we are a proud supporter of all active duty military and veterans,” USPS said in the statement.