The United States Postal Service late Thursday intercepted a letter containing white powder sent to the office of Gov. Bill Ritter, one of 30 governors that have received such letters since Monday, federal and state officials said this afternoon.
Evan Dreyer, spokesman for the governor, said that with the spate of letters being received by governors, the U.S. Postal Service was “double-checking all mail being sent to the Colorado State Capitol.
“The USPS came across a letter yesterday that had similar characteristics as some of the others that had been sent to different governor’s offices throughout the country,” said Dreyer.
The letter was taken to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and was tested today.
The letter did contain a powder substance, said Dreyer, which was later determined to be corn starch. Testing for anthrax and other biological agents was negative.
The FBI confirmed Friday afternoon that more than 30 governors across the country have received the letters.
All have been postmarked from the Dallas area.
The latest flurry of letters is the second batch sent from Texas.
In October, letters containing a powder substance were sent to 10 Chase banks in Colorado, three to Chase banks in Oklahoma, nine to Chase banks in New Jersey and to the Chase credit card center in Elgin, Ill.
The letters in October were mailed from Amarillo, Texas.
Robert E. Casey, special agent in charge of the Dallas FBI office, said on Thursday that governors in Rhode Island, Michigan, Mississippi, Alabama, Minnesota, Montana, Missouri, Maine, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Alaska, Texas and South Carolina have received the letters containing the substance. The FBI on Friday did not provide the names of the additional states where governors received the letters.
All the letters sent to the governors were postmarked in Dallas in north-central Texas. Amarillo, where the letters plus threatening notes were sent to the Chase banks in the Denver area, is in the Texas panhandle.
The FBI has yet to find the sender of the letters sent to the Chase banks in Colorado.
A total of more than 30 threatening letters mailed from Amarillo, Texas were sent to the Chase banks and other financial institutions in eight states in October.
FBI agent Mark White, spokesman for the FBI office in Dallas, said in October that in addition to the Chase Banks the the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Dallas and the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision in nearby Irving, Texas, also received threatening letters and a white powdery substance.
White said anyone with information concerning the letters should contact their local FBI office or the Dallas FBI at 972-559-5000.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
