Ricin case closed on UT roll of quarters

Houston Chronicle:

A mysterious powder that set off a ricin scare at the University of Texas campus likely will remain a mystery, FBI officials said late Monday.

The coarse powder, which a UT student from Pearland found in a roll of quarters Thursday while doing laundry, prompted an FBI investigation after state lab results came back positive for the deadly toxin. But testing at a federal lab in Maryland showed the powder did not contain ricin.

The FBI announced Monday that it had closed its investigation without determining what the powder was.

"It's not what it was. It's what it's not that's important," said FBI Special Agent Rene Salinas.

Meanwhile, UT officials acknowledged some kinks in communication, both within the university and with law enforcement agencies, that may have complicated the situation and increased anxiety.

Bob Harkins, associate vice president for campus safety and security, said in a news conference that university staff had some old cell phone numbers for each other and some outdated contacts for agencies that are being updated.

"This one went with the speed that we need to communicate better," Harkins said.

The university also will be in contact with the state lab that tested the powder to see if future results can be expedited.

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Despite these minor glitches both the state and federal authorities quickly got to the point on this investigation and both showed caution and concern for the young people involved. It started with an alert dorm supervisor who got authorities involved quickly and the students checked by medical staff. The FBI followed up with a second medical check and quickly retested the material to eliminate ricin as the problem. I would say the questions were pretty quickly answered and the students were carefully checked.