Possible physical evidence of anthrax attacks uncovered

US investigators have found what may be the first physical evidence in the anthrax attacks of 2001, in ponds in near

FBI divers, sent to the ponds on a tip-off in December, found vials wrapped in plastic, and a box similar to airtight chambers with built-in gloves used by scientists to handle dangerous pathogens, the Post said.

Despite an 18-month investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has not found hard evidence linking anyone to the mailing of the anthrax-filled letters, sent to media outlets and members of Congress in late 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Those attacks killed five people, infected 20 others and caused the evacuation and micro-cleansing of offices where the letters were received, including the US Capitol.

Based on the find in Frederick, some investigators are hypothesizing that the culprit used water to protect himself while loading the deadly anthrax spores into envelopes.

According to their theory, he might have placed envelopes and containers of anthrax in an air-proof, watertight chamber; waded into the water and submerged the chamber; inserted his hands through the chamber’s built-in gloves; then opened the vials of anthrax, and inserted the spores into the envelopes.

The envelopes might then have been sealed in zip-lock plastic bags, still in the chamber, according to the theory, which would explain why investigators have not yet found any sign of anthrax contamination outside the routes the letters travelled after being mailed.

The find has piqued the FBI’s interest in Steven Hatfill, a doctor and bio-terrorism expert whom the US Justice Department has named a “person of interest” in the investigation.

Hatfill formerly worked as a researcher at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick.