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For Immediate Release
November
19, 2001
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Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
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Protocol
Developed to Analyze Leahy Anthrax Letter
A protocol has
been developed by scientific and forensic experts to analyze
a believed anthrax-laden letter addressed to U.S. Senator
Patrick J. Leahy. Scientists from the FBI, and the Army's
laboratory at Ft. Detrick, Md., are working with a panel
of outside experts and have agreed on a strategy designed
to maximize the forensic value of the as yet unopened letter.
FBI and Centers for Disease Control investigators hope that
this careful, scientifically-agreed upon approach will yield
clues that will help identify the source of the letters.
From the outside,
the Leahy letter appears virtually identical to a letter
received in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle
on October 15. The October 9, 2001, Trenton, N.J., postmark,
the "Greendale School" return address, block handwriting
and other characteristics have combined to convince investigators
that the letter was sent by the same person.
The Leahy letter
was found Friday evening by FBI and EPA hazardous materials
personnel in one of 280 barrels of unopened mail sent to
Capitol Hill and held since the discovery of the Daschle
letter.
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