Posted on 03/27/2006 8:50:34 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen
PLAGUED BY FEAR: Second of seven parts
Vials reported missing and feds swarm in Previously: At a time when the government was on alert for bioterrorism attacks, Texas Tech University researcher Dr. Thomas Butler was working with federal officials to confirm the effectiveness of an antibiotic against plague. On Jan. 11, 2003, Butler discovered that 30 vials of plague bacteria from his laboratory were missing.
Monday, March 27, 2006
John Mangels
Plain Dealer Reporter
The day was almost over when the astonishing phone call came in to the Lubbock FBI office.
It was Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2003, around 5 p.m. Shannon Fish, a young agent fresh from the FBI Academy, couldn't believe what Sgt. Billy Lang of the Texas Tech University police department was saying.
Thirty vials of plague were missing, possibly stolen, from a researcher's lab.
"Are you kidding?" Fish asked. "No," Lang said. "This is for real."
Fish paged the Lubbock office's terrorism specialist, agent Mike Orndorff, who was on his way home. They both headed for the Texas Tech campus.
Dr. Thomas Butler arrived at the Tech police department about 40 minutes later, escorted by a campus cop. The agents were unaware that Butler's infectious disease research had helped save millions of lives, or that he was one of the world's foremost plague experts, among only a handful of American doctors who'd treated the victims of the ancient killer and seen its terrible handiwork up close.
All the FBI men knew was that Butler was some kind of scientist, and that the plague bacteria had disappeared from his lab. To the agents, he was a witness, and perhaps the victim of a crime with huge implications for homeland security.
Orndorff, a former Lubbock cop, took the lead. He began asking Butler some basic questions: Why did he have plague bacteria? Who had access to his lab? Was he certain it was missing and not just misplaced?
Interesting series. Please let me know when there are updates.
will post the remaining 5 parts daily
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