Steve Quayle News Alerts

May 06, 2002

SEWARD, Neb. — In what authorities call a case of domestic terrorism, another pipe bomb was found in a rural Nebraska mailbox Monday, the eighth in the state and the 16th found in the Midwest.

Authorities in Salida, Colo., 100 miles southwest of Denver, were checking to see whether a device found in a mailbox was a bomb.

"It's not been identified officially as an actual bomb. It could be a hoax," said Al DeSarro, a Postal Service spokesman.

The new device in Nebraska was found near Hastings in the mailbox of someone who had been away for the weekend, authorities said. It did not explode and no one was injured.

There was no immediate word on whether the bomb was accompanied by the same anti-government note found with the other bombs.

"We have confirmed that an eighth bomb has been found, beyond that we don't have any information," Postal Service spokesman David Failor said.

There have been no arrests in the case.

The bombs wounded six people in Illinois and Iowa on Friday, while two other bombs found in Iowa did not explode. The next day, seven bombs were found 350 miles away in Nebraska, but they were detonated harmlessly by authorities.

The FBI said Monday that the bombs and the accompanying notes were nearly identical and clearly came from the same source. The FBI considers the attacks a case of domestic terrorism, and profiling experts have said whoever wrote the note is probably an older American man.

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Authorities have not said whether they think the bombings were the work of an individual or a group.

FBI agent Larry Holmquist said the only differences in the bombs were slight variations in the detonating mechanisms. He refused to elaborate.

"There is no question that these were planted by the same person or persons," Holmquist said.

Officials described the bombs as three-quarter-inch steel pipes attached to 9-volt batteries, and said they appeared to be triggered by being touched or moved.

The typewritten note found with the bombs read, in part: "If the government controls what you want to do they control what you can do. ... I'm obtaining your attention in the only way I can. More info is on its way. More 'attention getters' are on the way."

Mail delivery was suspended Saturday in parts of Iowa and Illinois. It resumed Monday with added precautions across the region.

At the request of the Postal Service, many homeowners with roadside delivery in Nebraska, Iowa, northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin left their mailbox doors open or removed them. Mail carriers were told that if a customer's mailbox was not open, they should bring the mail to the door.

Linda Jensen of the Postal Inspection Service said 70 percent to 80 percent of all mailboxes were left open.

Jim Pelzer wore safety goggles and earplugs as he delivered mail in Tipton, Iowa, where one of the bombs exploded Friday. The protective gear was a gift from his wife.

"My feeling was when we had 9/11 and the anthrax scare, I was a little concerned about my job safety," Pelzer said. "But now I'm intimidated and scared."

Mail carrier Doris Fehlhafer, who was working outside Seward, added: "With the boxes open, you feel a lot safer."

Bob Temple of Morrison, Ill., said he cautiously opened his mailbox Sunday night to ease his carrier's fears. Temple's carrier was wounded when a pipe bomb blew up in her face while she was delivering mail to his next-door neighbor.

"I was pretty confident that the people that done it probably wouldn't be back this way, but it did kind of scare me," Temple said. "It was a relief when the door opened and nothing happened."

Dan Mihalko of the Postal Inspection Service in Washington said there is no indication that the Postal Service or its employees are the intended targets.

"When this guy is talking about the government, but it [the note] never gets into specifics about the government," he said. He said the Postal Service could be "just a convenient place of dropping things off."

All the bombs were found within 75 miles of one another in western Iowa and northeastern Illinois and within 90 miles of one another in eastern Nebraska. Interstate 80 links both areas.

State and local law enforcement authorities increased patrols of areas with mostly roadside mailboxes. Postal employees across the region, including those in Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and the Dakotas, were put on alert, and many were given safety talks before they went to work.

Besides the real bombs, a fake bomb was found Sunday in St. Paul, Neb., and an 18-year-old man was arrested. Also, four boys, ages 15 and 16, face charges in Forest City, Iowa, for allegedly blowing up mailboxes with fireworks.

The last of the wounded — a 61-year-old woman who lives near Anamosa, Iowa — was released from a hospital Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52008,00.html