First-term Republican State Representative, Fred Gardner of Garnett, was one of over 90 State Legislators and public officials who received a letter in the mail last week containing an as yet unidentified powdered substance. Gardner says his envelopes return address included a false name and the mailing address of a local church. He says his family had been advised in advance after the envelopes started showing up at other addresses. His wife determined the letter had a pliable “lump” inside when she checked the mail, so it was never opened. He says he received instructions from the KBI on how to handle the letter and present it as evidence, which included double bagging the envelope, which included a Kansas City postmark, but a lot of regional mail, even that coming from the local area, is routed to Kansas and postmarked from there.
KBI officials said yesterday the incident was still under investigation.
