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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 15, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- U.S. postal authorities on Sunday announced another round of negative anthrax tests in Pinellas County, further easing concerns about local exposure to the deadly bacteria.
Nasal swabs taken from a dozen Pinellas Park postal employees Saturday tested negative for anthrax, Gary Sawtelle, a postal spokesman, said Sunday. The employees were tested after a worker found a white, powdery substance on her shirt, Sawtelle said.
The source of the powder could not be pinpointed, Sawtelle said. But direct mailers often use powder to prevent plastic-wrapped pieces from sticking together, he said.
Investigators are still working vigorously to figure out who is responsible for three suspicious letters with St. Petersburg postmarks sent to NBC News, the New York Times and the St. Petersburg Times. All three letters contained powder that has since been deemed harmless.
"Just because (the tests) are negative, that's not going to stop us from going after them full blast," said Linda Walker, a U.S. postal inspector based in Tampa.
Walker declined to comment on what the Postal Service and the FBI are doing to find the senders or how many leads the agencies are pursuing.
"We don't want to let the bad guys know how we do our jobs," Walker said.
But John Fitzgibbons, a former federal prosecutor who now practices criminal defense law in Tampa, said they likely are examining the letters for fingerprints, conducting handwriting analysis and perhaps collecting DNA samples.
"It gets a little more interesting in today's world," he said. "If these are licked stamps or envelopes, they may be able to get DNA."
Mailing a threatening letter is punishable by 20 years in federal prison, Walker said.
"The United States Attorney's Office has stated it intends to prosecute the individual responsible for these mailings to the fullest extent of the law," Walker said.
Mack Vines, St. Petersburg's police chief, said his agency is continuing to work with the FBI, postal inspectors and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
"The priorities haven't changed at all," Vines said.
Vines encouraged residents to continue to be cautious about the mail they receive and suggested they call 911 if they receive mail they consider suspicious.
Early Sunday, police received a call from restaurant patrons at a St. Petersburg diner about a teenager threatening to toss anthrax-laced powder at them.
Rick Stelljes, St. Petersburg police spokesman, said a 17-year-old male, whose name was unavailable, went into the restaurant in the 1100 block of 34th St. N with a vial containing a white, powdery substance. Police were called, but the teen later admitted it was ground-up Percocet, a prescription painkiller.
"We took the guy into custody, and we're testing the substance," Stelljes said.
Authorities were receiving all sorts of related calls and tips over the weekend, Vines said.
Stephen Updegraff, a St. Petersburg ophthalmologist, said Saturday that the handwriting on the envelope sent to Times columnist Howard Troxler -- reprinted in Saturday's Times -- looked similar to the handwriting on three suspicious letters he received last year. At the time, St. Petersburg police told him the letters were similar to others, which threatened biohazardous exposure, sent to area medical practices.
Updegraff said he called the FBI on Saturday to make the agency aware of the similarities.
Even as local post offices remained in a state of heightened awareness, St. Petersburg postmaster Tom Pawlowski said a sense of relief was sinking in. He said he expected mail to be delivered without a hitch.
"It's business as usual," he said.