imac 10.5.8

I cannot delete emails in my sent box. These are beige colored for some reason. The blue colored emails I can delete. I click the delete icon but then it changes to undelete and then back to delete. Why is this happening and how do I rectify it?
I can delete from my in box okay. I can also empty my trashed email.
jaybass

Hi, jaybass

What email application are you using? Gmail? Yahoo! Mail? other?

Does anything change if you shut down, wait a bit, and then restart?

Hi, Dianne,

Apple mail. There are (5) emails all dated 2010 (Aug. to Oct.)

I delete these emails and they are still there. I go to view

"Hide deleted messages", they hide. Return to "sent" messages,

they reappear. I have restarted several times since having

this problem. Is it possible to do a custom installation that

would solve this issue?

Thanks for replying, jaybass

> I have restarted several times since having this problem.

I don't know whether it will help you, but shutting down, as dianne said, sometimes does things that just restarting doesn't.

Have you rebuilt the mailbox?

Artie, Shutting down did not help.

joemikeb, clicking build solved my problem...I shall remember your advice.
jaybass

Sometimes a mailbx index gets out of sync with the actual emix message files creating unusual events such as you were encountering. Rebuilding the mailbox recreates that index based on the actual emix message files present which, as you discovered, clears up the unusual situation.