The investigation into the deadly 2001 anthrax attack
is one of the largest and most complex investigations
ever conducted by law enforcement. Today, the FBI's commitment
to solving this case is undiminished. The men and women
of the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service assigned
to the case remain fully committed to bringing the perpetrator(s)
of these murderous attacks to justice. While no arrests
have been made, the dedicated investigators who have worked
tirelessly on this case, day-in and day-out, continue
to go the extra mile in pursuit of every lead. From the
Director to the investigating agents, analysts and inspectors,
there is confidence the case will be solved.
Second, while not well known to the public, the scientific
advances gained from this investigation are unprecedented
and have greatly strengthened the government's ability
to prepare for - and prevent - biological attacks in the
future. Since the first anthrax mailing, investigators
have worked hand in hand with the scientific community
to both solve this case, prevent another and to be best
positioned should another occur.
Despite the frustrations that come with any complex investigation,
no one in the FBI has, for a moment, stopped thinking
about the innocent victims of these attacks, nor has the
effort to solve this case in any way been slowed.
--Acting Assistant Director in Charge Joseph Persichini,
Jr., Washington Field Office.
FAQs
What is the status of the investigation?
This is a pending investigation and a top priority for
the FBI.
The FBI has devoted hundreds of thousands of agent-hours
to the case and conducted thousands of interviews. Eight
panels of scientific experts have been convened to develop
a comprehensive analytical scheme for evaluating and analyzing
the anthrax evidence. As a result, valuable relationships
have been forged in the scientific and public health communities,
greatly increasing the government's ability to deal with
biochemical threats in the future.
Is this a cold case?
This is an active case and the effort to solve it has
in no way been slowed.
How many Agents are currently assigned to the case?
At the present time there are 17 FBI Special Agents (SA's)
and 10 U.S. Postal Inspectors assigned to the AMERITHRAX
Task Force. The number of Task Force members tends to
vary on occasion due to career advancement opportunities
and transfers. Within the last 30 days, 2 FBI SA's transferred
from the Task Force to other FBI assignments. Two additional
SA's are scheduled to be assigned positions on the Task
Force in October.
What other statistics regarding the progress in
this investigation are available?
To date, the number of interviews conducted exceeds 9,100.
There have been over 6,000 grand jury subpoenas issued
and 67 searches have been completed.
What kind of scientific advances have been made
in the past five years?
Since the 2001 attacks, relationships between investigators
and scientists have greatly expanded, resulting in tangible
improvements in the FBI's and U.S. Government's preparedness.
The FBI Laboratory has created or expanded three new
scientific working groups (SWGs) consisting of scientists
from academia, private industry, the National Laboratories,
other U.S. Federal Government agencies, physicians, and
researchers. These working groups identify areas where
scientific advancements can be applied to terrorism investigations.
The FBI Laboratory has created a new Unit, the Chemical
Biological Sciences Unit (CBSU), staffed with forensic
scientists with advanced degrees in Chemistry, Biology,
and Nuclear Chemistry. This Unit has established extensive
working relationships with partner laboratories in a variety
of specialized scientific areas, based on the requirements
of casework within the FBI. CBSU has developed and validated
new analytical procedures to better characterize hazardous
evidence, including anthrax, and has evaluated and applied
existing methodologies in new and novel ways.
The FBI Laboratory has expanded the Hazardous Materials
Response Unit (HMRU) with additional professional first
responders, hazardous materials officers, doctorate-level
scientists and former clinicians. These individuals conduct
threat assessments, respond to WMD crime scenes, manage
and train field personnel distributed in FBI Field Offices
to effectively respond to collect, package, and transport
hazardous evidence to specialized laboratories, including
the FBI Laboratory.
The FBI has expanded their international liaison activities
to include professional scientists in other countries
in support of counterterrorism investigations.
The FBI Laboratory has supported an ongoing Department
of Homeland Security initiative to build a dedicated bio-forensic
laboratory at Ft. Detrick, MD. An interim laboratory is
currently operational. The permanent facility, supported
by a series of partner laboratories, will significantly
increase forensic analytical capabilities and reduce analytical
timelines.
Will the anthrax case ever be solved?
The FBI commitment to solving this case is undiminished.