Jeremiah Crowell

This is a CBC Podcast. In the fall of 2001, while Americans were still grappling with the horror of 9-11... another terror was quietly brewing. Soon, envelopes filled with white powder started showing up at media outlets and government buildings. The letters dominated the news cycle, created mass panic, and killed innocent people just opening their mail.

This is a CBC Podcast. In the fall of 2001, while Americans were still grappling with the horror of 9-11... another terror was quietly brewing. Soon, envelopes filled with white powder started showing up at media outlets and government buildings. The letters dominated the news cycle, created mass panic, and killed innocent people just opening their mail.

But what's strange is if you ask people now what happened with the anthrax case, almost no one knows. It's like the whole story just disappeared. Who mailed those letters? Do you know? I'm Jeremiah Crowell. I'm a documentary filmmaker and host of Aftermath Hunt for the Anthrax Killer.

But what's strange is if you ask people now what happened with the anthrax case, almost no one knows. It's like the whole story just disappeared. Who mailed those letters? Do you know? I'm Jeremiah Crowell. I'm a documentary filmmaker and host of Aftermath Hunt for the Anthrax Killer.

In this series, I'll take you inside one of the largest, twistiest investigations in FBI history, with the agents, scientists, and experts who were there. From the science that cracked it, to the mistakes that almost derailed it, to the lives nearly ruined by it. This eight-part series reveals how the attacks and this sometimes controversial investigation

In this series, I'll take you inside one of the largest, twistiest investigations in FBI history, with the agents, scientists, and experts who were there. From the science that cracked it, to the mistakes that almost derailed it, to the lives nearly ruined by it. This eight-part series reveals how the attacks and this sometimes controversial investigation

reshaped America, and the surprising hidden consequences that still linger today. You're about to hear episode one. If you like it, you'll find more by searching Aftermath, Hunt for the Anthrax Killer, wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, here we go.

reshaped America, and the surprising hidden consequences that still linger today. You're about to hear episode one. If you like it, you'll find more by searching Aftermath, Hunt for the Anthrax Killer, wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, here we go.

It was the evening of September 11th, about 12 hours after the terrorist attacks, and Scott Decker, a special agent with the FBI, was already on the move. He'd packed his bags and said goodbye to his family in Virginia.

It was the evening of September 11th, about 12 hours after the terrorist attacks, and Scott Decker, a special agent with the FBI, was already on the move. He'd packed his bags and said goodbye to his family in Virginia.

While everyone else was trying like hell to get out of New York City, Decker drove all night to get in.

While everyone else was trying like hell to get out of New York City, Decker drove all night to get in.

They arrived outside Manhattan near dawn. But those orange letters were right. New York City was closed. Even to the FBI. Bridges were shut down. Landlines were out. And cell phones weren't working well. So Decker went to an FBI field office in New Jersey, just across the river.

They arrived outside Manhattan near dawn. But those orange letters were right. New York City was closed. Even to the FBI. Bridges were shut down. Landlines were out. And cell phones weren't working well. So Decker went to an FBI field office in New Jersey, just across the river.

He landed near Ground Zero and, like everyone there, struggled to make sense of what had just happened.

He landed near Ground Zero and, like everyone there, struggled to make sense of what had just happened.

But Decker isn't looking at the scene the same way as most first responders. In fact, he's there for something else. What the public didn't know at the time is that there was another looming threat.

But Decker isn't looking at the scene the same way as most first responders. In fact, he's there for something else. What the public didn't know at the time is that there was another looming threat.

There was reliable intelligence from the weeks right before 9-11 that al-Qaeda was planning a different kind of attack in addition to September 11th, one involving the release of biotoxins into the air. A second attack was going to be coming at any moment. Decker was part of the FBI's new hazardous response team.

There was reliable intelligence from the weeks right before 9-11 that al-Qaeda was planning a different kind of attack in addition to September 11th, one involving the release of biotoxins into the air. A second attack was going to be coming at any moment. Decker was part of the FBI's new hazardous response team.