An envelope sent to the Traill County Sheriff's Department unleashed a nasty smell that spurred a building evacuation Thursday morning.
Sheriff Mike Crocker said he opened an 8½-by-11-inch Manila envelope with no return address and removed several pages of what he called anti-government writings. In doing so, he said, a stink -- "just a real foul-smelling perfume" -- filled his office in Hillsboro, N.D.
"Once I saw what it was, I threw it in the garbage, and the smell got stronger and stronger," he said.
Crocker said he put the envelope and the handwritten documents in plastic bags, and as a precaution, the building, which houses his department and other government offices, was evacuated for less than hour while it was ventilated. He said no one was sickened by the odor and that the nearby county courthouse was not affected.
The sheriff said the documents were unsigned and that his department does not know who sent the envelope. The envelope and its contents will be analyzed by the North Dakota Health Department, he said.
