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Saturday, October 13, 2001

Suspicious envelopes found at two local sites

By PAUL NUTCHER and HENRY FREDERICK
NEWS-JOURNAL STAFF WRITERS

DAYTONA BEACH — As fears of an anthrax attack grew nationwide Friday, two suspicious letters containing white powder were found in Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach, prompting Volusia County's hazardous materials team to wash down the scenes as a precaution and send the letters to the FBI lab in Jacksonville for analysis.

Daytona Beach Fire Department spokesman James Bland said a letter containing a white powder was received in the mail by Dr. Roberto DiNicolo at the Asthma, Allergy and Sinus Clinic at 353 Clyde Morris Blvd.

DiNicolo, believing the letter to be suspicious because he did not recognize the sender's name, put on rubber gloves, took it outside the building and opened it, Bland said.

DiNicolo noticed the powder and immediately placed the letter in a self-sealing plastic bag, left it outside and called police about 11 a.m., Bland said.

DiNicolo said after the cleanup that an FBI agent at the scene assured him the letter was sent by a Satellite Beach collections agency that was soliciting area physicians.

"I was a little relieved," said DiNicolo, adding the white powder he saw appeared as he ripped open the envelope.

Another letter was found earlier in the day in Ormond Beach in the lobby at the Coral Sands Inn and Seaside Cottages at 1009 Ocean Shore Blvd., said Ormond Beach police spokesman Vince Champion.

A clerk at the front desk told police a man with olive skin wearing a tan running suit entered the lobby at 8:45 a.m. The clerk told police the man asked about the price of rooms at the resort and left, Champion said.

The clerk then noticed a white greeting card envelope where the man had been standing, opened it and saw white powder inside, Champion said.

The lobby area was evacuated before the Volusia County Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Team arrived to seal the letter and aid in its removal, Champion said. Nine employees at the inn were "decontaminated" by the team.

The hazardous materials team later paid a visit to DiNicolo's office. Officals reported the doctor did not suffer exposure to the powdery substance.

No one reported any injuries at either scene, authorities said, although nine people from the Coral Sands concerned about anthrax visited Memorial Hospital-Ormond Beach. Mike Gentry, president of Memorial Health Systems, said blood and nasal swab samples were taken and sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but no one had symptoms of anthrax exposure.

The FBI responded to both locations and had the letters transported to Jacksonville for further analysis, Bland said. He said the analysis could take 72 hours before results are known.

"I would be suspicious of everything right now," Bland said, adding a personal note, "I will look at my mail differently now."

Bland noted that since the Sept. 11 attacks the Daytona Beach Fire Department has received at least one call every day about a bomb scare or suspicious letter or package.

Police and fire departments throughout Volusia and Flagler counties said there were no other related reports Friday.

The letters arrived in the area as authorities in New York announced Friday that an NBC News employee contracted anthrax through the skin after the network received mail containing a suspicious powder.

The NBC disclosure comes a week after a photo editor for The Sun supermarket tabloid in Boca Raton died of the more serious inhaled form of anthrax and two other mailroom workers tested positive for the exposure but did not develop the disease.

The news from New York was not lost on Gov. Jeb Bush, who said, "This has implications for all of us."

The governor said it was important for residents in Florida and other states not to panic, adding, "What we don't want is a chaotic situation."

Pamela Hill, 40, of Daytona Beach, worried that the same person delivering DiNicolo's mail could have handled mail at the building where she works on Clyde Morris Boulevard.

Her co-worker Julie Liebman, 35, of Daytona Beach, added, "It's very frightening, especially right across the street. It's very astonishing that this could happen here in Daytona Beach," Liebman said.

People who saw police tape surrounding the Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach sites wondered aloud about the possibilities of terrorism here.

Patricia Holtzendorf, 44, an assistant manager of the Coral Sands Inn, asked, "We're just little old Coral Sands -- why would anyone want to pick on us?

"Business just started coming back and then this happened," she said, returning to her counter at 3:30 p.m. when business was allowed to resume.

Grant Harbin, 65, of Johnson City, Tenn., said he wasn't going to let the incident spoil his family's vacation.

"It makes you fearful of doing certain things, but you just can't stop doing what you plan," said Harbin, a seasonal visitor here with his wife and grandson. "If I felt like there was a direct risk, I would be on my way back to Tennessee."

Staff Writer Laura Zuckerman contributed to this report.

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