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Dozens Of Racist Letters Left In Whittier Neighborhood

DENVER (CBS4) - Denver police are investigating after dozens of racist letters were left in a Whittier neighborhood.

A threatening message was directed at one homeowner. It was as much a shock to her as it was to everyone who got a letter. She has lived in her Denver home for more than 30 years and in the neighborhood longer than that.

FIVE POINTS RACIST LETTER P
One of the letters (credit: CBS)

"I saw what was on it and I just broke down," said the homeowner who didn't want to be identified.

The woman says she's worried about her family's safety.

"I can't believe anybody in this day in age would do something like that, and why?" she said.

The message was in the form of a single line typed onto a blank sheet of white paper. It lists her address and then the "N" word, saying there's no room for them or Jews in the neighborhood.

The letters were sealed in blank envelopes and delivered in the middle of the night to several of her neighbors.

"Picked them up, opened one up, saw what the contents were and was like 'wow,' " another resident said. "Why would they say something like that? They must not know the history of this neighborhood, is what I thought."

The man immediately went to check on the homeowner targeted in the letter. Police were already there and have been keeping watch ever since.

"It just doesn't make sense to me. I can't understand why this is happening," the woman said.

The only problem she's had while she's lived in the Whittier neighborhood more than 50 years is from people trying to get her to sell her home

"I've gotten a lot of letters from people wanting to come in and look at the house, wanting to by the house, and I called a few of them back and said, 'Please don't call me anymore.' "

While police are investigating it as a possible hate crime, neighbors are wondering if there's more to the letter than meets the eye.

"I think it's just somebody trying to use a scare tactic to get her out of her house," the man said.

The homeowner said she may have fallen victim to fraud involving her home already. She can't say if the two are connected and for now she's being cautious.

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