OTTUMWA — An Ottumwa woman said she will think twice before reaching into her mailbox.

Around 11 a.m. Thursday, Carolyn Stansberry opened her mailbox at her home in the 900 block of Lillian Street and discovered what at first looked like a pop bottle.

When she reached in she noticed there was more to the pop bottle.

“It looked like a pop bottle with the front crushed down and what looked to be tinfoil around the edges,” she told the Courier.

The sight of the foil made Stansberry suspicious and she called the Ottumwa police.

An Ottumwa Police spokesman later told the Courier that the materials discovered within the mailbox was “consistent” with a pop-bottle bomb, but that the investigation was still under way.

The device never went off and police were able remove it with their hands after they realized it was not active.

“They said they would be going down the street to check all other mailboxes to make sure no one had put anything in anyone else’s,” Stansberry said.

“Since it wasn’t made very well, I’m guessing it was probably done by kids. I’ve heard about this kind of thing happening in Des Moines, but not around here.”

Stansberry said she admits that while she feels safe at home, being near a mailbox makes her feel a bit uneasy.

“I doubt if it will ever happen again, but I’ll be careful, that’s for sure,” she said.