Underwater anthrax

Frederick, Md.

FBI agents may have found the key to the 2001 anthrax mystery submerged in a Maryland pond, The Washington Post reported this week. Acting on a tip, divers searched the pond this winter and found a “glove box,” a clear container with holes for gloves to fit through. The person behind the anthrax attacks, which killed five people, could have waded in, submerged the airtight box, and manipulated anthrax spores into envelopes that were sent to Capitol Hill and several news outlets. The water would have kept spores from floating free and infecting the person who sent them. The find may explain why the FBI found no traces of anthrax in 18 months of searching the homes of suspected American scientists. The FBI may drain the pond, said Frederick’s Mayor Jennifer Dougherty, to see if there are any other clues “hidden by the muck.”

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