FBI, Post Office Searching New York, New Jersey Locations In Anthrax Probe

WNBC ^ | AUgust 5, 2004

[Shermy]

NEWARK, N.J. -- The FBI and Postal Inspection Service on Thursday searched locations in Newark and Wellsville, N.Y., in connection with the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, the FBI said.

The searches began and will probably be completed on Thursday, said Ed Cogswell, and FBI spokesman in Washington.

He said he did not know what sort of locations were being searched, and said the supporting information for the search warrants was sealed.

No arrests have been made, he said.

He declined to provide further details about the searches.

"It's part of the investigative effort. I can't go beyond that," Cogswell said.

Anthrax mailings killed five people and sickened 17 in autumn 2001. Some of the anthrax-tainted letters were processed at a postal facility in Hamilton. There were five confirmed anthrax infections and two suspected cases in New Jersey, but no fatalities.

[Semper Paratus]

Hope they have finally got on the right trail and not that they've run out of swamps to drain in Maryland.

[Shermy]

Ping.

First glance I thought maybe they're going back to post offices for the New York City mail.

But "Wellsville" is far out in western New York State...

[oceanview]

postal locations? for material from 2001?

or has there been another mailing that has been detected somehow?

[freeperfromnj]

Is Wellsville near Albany? Maybe they got new leads from the arrest of the two guys in Albany.

[Shermy]

Nope. SW NY state, per mapquest. Small town. and you've got mail.

[johnfrink]

They heard Steven Hatfill once ate a sandwich in one of those towns, and that qualifies in this investigation as important new evidence.

[Mayflower Sister]

It is a tiny tiny town south of Buffalo...(did I say tiny?)

My parents live there (parents also of Mayflower Madam).

The last place I'd ever think there would be an investigation of this kind. Did I mention that it is tiny?

[cardinal4]

The perp is already in custody-he is being held by the Iraqis and guarded by the US Military. He can be found gardening and writing poetry..

[MayflowerMadam]

"Is Wellsville near Albany?"

Not even close. Two hours south of Buffalo (where a terrorist cell was found last year). (Best Texas Hots in the world there on Main St.)

[jpl]

This is the first time I've ever even heard of Wellsville.

Newark is interesting. Lots of Arabs in that area; though this is true of much of the state of New Jersey.

[Mayflower Sister]

NO Arabs there. All hard-working conservative dairy farmers.

[Rutles4Ever]

Boy they move fast! I'm sure there's been little or no evidence degradation over the past three YEARS.

[TrebleRebel]

A house in Chadwick beach?????

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_080504_anthrax.html


Agents descended on a house in Chadwick Beach, an inlet in Ocean County, just after noon. The small house, with a sand front lawn and beach chairs in the rear, is on a quiet, two-block long street.

Agents are also searching in Wellsville, N.Y., just outside Buffalo area. The locations in Wellsville, in rural Allegany County, are the home and apartment of an emergency department doctor.

State and local officials have been advised of the searches to assure them there is no public health risk.

The searches, conducted by the FBI and U.S. Postal Service, are part of the ongoing investigation of anthrax-laced letters mailed in September and October of 2001.

The investigation is being run out of the Washington field office of the FBI, using agents from both the Buffalo and Newark field offices.

Health officials out of Washington are also involved.

[Shermy]

I wonder if this Wellsville address matches the name I privately sent some here? I won't paste it now, could be more Jewell/Hatfill garbage.

http://www.wellsvilledaily.com/

Over 30 FBI agents friom Buffalo, Maryland and Pennsylvania closed down two streets in Wellsville because of what they call an "anthrax investigation incident." They are searching the Pearl Street home of a Wellsville resident and his old apartment on Maple Avenue. Agents have removed boxes and bags from the apartment and were searching through the resident's home with white glove. More updates to follow on www.wellsvilledaily.com. Daily Reporter photo by Kathryn Ross.

[TrebleRebel]

The name of the resident is obviously going to come out today at some point. I wonder who lives at the Chadwick Beach house?

[Shermy]

The name of the resident is obviously going to come out today at some point.

Yep. I just sent you a link showing that the "Dr." had a Maple Avenue address

I wonder who lives at the Chadwick Beach house?

Summer house for the same fellow? Other unrelated person? These searches could be connected, going after a lot of loose ends - or tying them up and disposing them. Remember the FBI, oddly, seemed to indicate they might give up unless they sove it by October - or something like that.

[muawiyah]

http://www.thespiritof76.com/NEX_NEWS/NF_BIOH2.HTM Seems that Wellsville, NY has a fellow living there who dissented from the need for anthrax vaccinations.

Ocean City MD is a far larger town, but you have a good number of seasonal business in the area owned by Middle Eastern people, so who knows. If they were hitting on Rehoboth Beach, DE (just up the coast), I'd have a better idea what the relationships were.

More than likely this is yet another dry hole the FBI is pursuing due to it's inability to understand how ALL the anthrax letters could be entered into the mail at the same time down in Florida yet end up all over the place.

Inspectors are going down in my estimation as well. Guess if it weren't for the bureaucrats the IS would NEVER win any cases because they are unable to put together an evidentiary trail.

[freeperfromnj]

The original story you posted is out of Newark but the post office they searched is here in south Jersey in Dover Township.

FBI searches locations in Dover Township and Wellsville, NY

8/5/2004, 2:57 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

DOVER TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — The FBI and Postal Inspection Service on Thursday searched locations here and in Wellsville, N.Y., in connection with the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, the FBI said.

The searches began and would probably be completed on Thursday, said Ed Cogswell, an FBI spokesman in Washington.
The Dover Township residence is a waterfront rental property on Sailfish Way, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Cogswell said the supporting information for the search warrants was sealed. No arrests have been made, he said.
"It's part of the investigative effort. I can't go beyond that," Cogswell said.

The New Jersey Attorney General's Office, Office of Counter Terrorism, state police and Department of Health were assisting federal investigators, the governor's office said. A state police spokesman said the agency's marine police were also providing support.

"We understand the New Jersey search operation in Lavallette has concluded and that is no threat to public health or safety," Gov. James E. McGreevey said in a prepared statement.

Anthrax mailings killed five people and sickened 17 in autumn 2001. Some of the anthrax-tainted letters were processed at a postal facility in Hamilton. There were five confirmed anthrax infections and two suspected cases in New Jersey, but no fatalities.

Debbie Weierman, a spokeswoman for the FBI Washington field office, said authorities have conducted 5,200 interviews in connection with the 2001 attacks, but she declined to say what had precipitated Thursday's searches. She said 30 FBI agents and 13 postal inspectors are currently devoted solely to the investigation.

Wellsville is in Allegany County in western New York state.

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1091730240141470.xml&storylist=

[Shermy]

Here's a new one - "Dover" New Jersey. Near NYC, not Trenton.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040805/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/anthrax_probe_1

"It was not immediately known what prompted the search, or exactly what investigators were looking for. The search by the FBI and Postal Inspection Service focused on locations in Wellsville and Dover Township, N.J. "

[freeperfromnj]

Dover Township is down the Jersey shore, about two hours from NYC.

[Shermy]

Asbury Park? Well that would be central NJ and I speculated the mailer was from that region and commuted to Princeton area so I hope I'm vindicated and y'all forget my Wesley Clark VP selection prediction.

:-)

[eno_]

Ugh... if it is who I googled, this is Amerithrax II. Bleah.

[Shermy]

"Dover Township is down the Jersey shore, about two hours from NYC."

I had found another "Dover" east of Newark.

Asbury Park, that makes sense with the mailing spots and return address selection. Someone familiar with the area, jumbling it up a bit though for confusion.

[Shermy]

Ugh... if it is who I googled, this is Amerithrax II. Bleah.

Sequels sell well.

[TrebleRebel]

Yes, it is. Wait until you read all his vitae!!

[jpl]

Did you post the right link? I can't see anything in there about Dover.

[Shermy]

Sorry, ignore #20 here's the corrct AP link:

Link

[freeperfromnj]

I recall they closed a south Jersey post office in Bellmawr after the attacks. I'll look back and see if I find anything on it.

[freeperfromnj]

They searched a house!

New Developments in Anthrax Letters Case

(New York-WABC, August 5, 2004) — Federal officials are searching locations in Ocean County, N.J., and Wellsville, N.Y., as part of their investigation into the anthrax letters sent following the September 11th attacks.

Agents descended on a house in Chadwick Beach, an inlet in Ocean County, just after noon. The small house, with a sand front lawn and beach chairs in the rear, is on a quiet, two-block long street.

Agents are also searching in Wellsville, N.Y., just outside Buffalo area. The locations in Wellsville, in rural Allegany County, are the home and apartment of an emergency department doctor.

State and local officials have been advised of the searches to assure them there is no public health risk.

The searches, conducted by the FBI and U.S. Postal Service, are part of the ongoing investigation of anthrax-laced letters mailed in September and October of 2001.

The investigation is being run out of the Washington field office of the FBI, using agents from both the Buffalo and Newark field offices.

Health officials out of Washington are also involved.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_080504_anthrax.html

[Shermy]

http://www.app.com/app/breaking_news/1020024.html

Midday update from the Asbury Park Press
STAFF REPORT

DOVER -- FBI agents searched a house this morning at 209 Sailfish Way in the Chadwick Beach section of Dover Township in connection with the deadly anthrax attacks of 2001.

FBI officials would not give any details of the search, other than to confirm it was connected with the anthrax attacks, and that other searches were being conducted today at other locations in New Jersey and New York.

The FBI is seeking clues to the origin of anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and sickened 17 during September and October of 2001. Anthrax-laced letters were mailed through the postal processing facility in Hamilton. The building has been closed since then.

The regional plant in Hamilton handled anthrax-tainted letters sent to NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, U.S. Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and the New York Post.

There were five confirmed anthrax infections and two suspected cases in New Jersey -- all but one in postal workers -- but no fatalities.

The FBI has said there are about 30 people of interest in the case, but no one is considered a suspect. The only name to become public is Steven J. Hatfill, a Maryland bioweapons expert who has denied any involvement in the anthrax mailings.

[freeperfromnj]

See article at post #30. They searched the home and apartment of an emergency department doctor. They must have new info.

[jpl]

So are Ocean County and Dover Township the same place, or different?

[muawiyah]

FULCO FULFILLMENT INC, 32 RICHBOYNTON RD, DOVER NJ is out that way. They are a big enough mailer to have been ordering stacks of MTE (empty mail transport equipment such as "flat trays", "letter trays", etc.).

With the mailing industry "down" since December 2000, and dropping like a rock until the recovery a year and a half ago, this company ( http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BOR/is_12_16/ai_81103717 ) could have very well surfaced a few of the letters mailed in Florida (and inadvertently "lost" in MTE being shipped from there to New Jersey), and simply never returned to working down the stack since that time.

With the anthrax detection processes now in place, if another such letter popped up coming from that business, it would be caught before it could do much/any harm.

I suspect the FBI is targeting the folks up in New York with the Inspection Service (IS) taking a trip out to see some mailers who have both a Maryland and a New Jersey address ~ I haven't got all the FULCO addresses yet, but they do have that all important "DOVER" address, and they do just the sort of specialty mailings that generate a need for a stack of MTE to be provided by the post office on a recurring basis.

[Shermy]

Hey, look here! Via Google. "201 Sailfish" is available to rent! And pictures!

http://www.oceanbeachnj.com/keyno_results.asp?KEYNO=SA209

[jpl]

Man, I'm really tempted to call that phone number listed on there, but I'm not going to out of respect.

[Shermy]

you too, sorry. Look at the link for "201 Sailfish"

[oceanview]

what hospital? one of the victims, that filipino woman from NYC, I believe she worked at a hospital in NYC.

[freeperfromnj]

Dover Township is one of many beach towns located in Ocean County.

[oceanview]

it says "209" Sailfish.

[jpl]

Understand now, thanks!

[freeperfromnj]

I'm guessing it's one of this hospitals in South Jersey.

[Shermy]

"it says "209" Sailfish."

Thank you.

The news report says "209". The link is to "209"

I typed "201" twice as a mistake.

I should be more careful.

[Shermy]

"KB" Is an "emergency" doctor, scroll down

http://home.eznet.net/~kenberry/materials/1998conference.htm

[Shermy]

Kenneth Berry's name has just been printed for the first time.


http://www.wnbc.com/news/3620240/detail.html


FBI, Post Office Search Doctor's Homes In Anthrax Probe

UPDATED: 4:21 pm EDT August 5, 2004

DOVER TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Federal agents investigating the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks on Thursday searched a lagoon-front bungalow here along with the upstate New York home of the founder of an anti-terrorism organization that trains medical professionals to respond to chemical and biological attacks.


Two black sport utility vehicles remained parked outside the New Jersey home, along with two white rental vans on Thursday afternoon. It was not immediately known who owned the property. The home is about a half-hour north of Atlantic City.

Authorities arrived at the home around 9 a.m. Thursday morning, said Jonathan DeGraw, 26, of Suffern, N.Y., who had been renting the home next door for the last two weeks with his girlfriend and her daughter.

Agents brought out garbage bags that appeared to be filled with bulky contents, DeGraw said. Authorities also removed boxes with clear plastic bags in them.

In Wellsville, N.Y., more than three dozen agents, some in protective suits, combed through two homes. Property records list the homes as the past and present addresses of Dr. Kenneth Berry, 48, who founded PREEMPT Medical Counter-Terrorism, Inc. in 1997.

An FBI spokesman in Washington said the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service were searching multiple locations in Wellsville and Dover Township as part of the anthrax probe. He would not say what agents were looking for.

"There is no present danger to public health or safety," Joe Parris, FBI supervisory special agent said.

Anthrax-laced envelopes were mailed in the fall of 2001 to news media and government offices, including those of Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Five people were killed and 17 sickened.

The mailings further rattled a nation already on edge after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Berry, in a 1997 USA Today interview, advocated the distribution of anthrax vaccine.

"We ought to be planning to make anthrax vaccine widely available to the population starting in the major cities," he said. The remarks were made soon after the Pentagon announced it would begin inoculating all 2.4 million military personnel against anthrax next summer.

FBI spokeswoman Debbie Weierman said authorities have conducted 5,200 interviews in connection with the attacks. She said 30 FBI agents and 13 postal inspectors are devoted to the investigation.

[freeperfromnj]

A lot of information coming forth quickly. Do you think they have a solid lead this time?

[lugsoul]

Perhaps they got some new leads off of Khan's computer.

[jpl]

Wow. I'm just flabbergasted.

It's clear that the FBI is still operating under this cockamie theory that the anthrax letters were done by a "biodefense insider" type person to warn America of the dangers of a potential attack.

Remind me to never, ever, write a book or publish any kind of written material about the dangers of bioterrorism.

[Shermy]

A lot of information coming forth quickly. Do you think they have a solid lead this time?

Who knows, he could be tagged with another rumor among fellow scientists.

though, if the Ocean Park home is his, that's very interesting...

Or he has another involvement...could he have tagged Hatfill, eg, given the name to BHR and cohorts?

Just speculation.

[johnfrink]

It looks that way. I've suspected for some time that they were fairly sure who had done it, but were just trying to build a case. I wonder if the whole Hatfill thing was just a (very) elaborate ruse.

If this guy founded a medical counter-terror firm, that would fit one hypothesis, which is that the mailer was trying to warn the US by documenting a hazard rather than actually killing anyone.