ABC 6 Exclusive: Middletown Man Who Received Suspicious Package - ABC6 - Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

ABC 6 Exclusive: Middletown Man Who Received Suspicious Package On High Alert

People in Middletown are on high alert after a package filled with black powder showed up in a mailbox. Police say the substance turned out to be harmless, but the man who received it is still concerned about how it got there and why. 

Brian Henry of Beagle Drive says if the package would have turned up 20 years ago, he would have just shrugged it off, but ever since 9/11, it is no laughing matter.

"I thought to myself is this anthrax? A joke? Where did it come from? At first you don't even believe it's happening," Henry said.

The white package showed up in Henry's mailbox on Beagle Drive in Middletown Thursday night. He says the black powder inside of it got all over his hands and his girlfriend's hand so they prepared for the worst.

"I put in a bag, tied it up, put it in the back of my truck, showered and called police."

Police quickly turned the quiet cul-de-sac into a crime scene investigation, staying there for almost 10 hours Thursday night. Neighbors were forced to stay inside.

"The whole street was lit up," Julian Nev, a neighbor, said. "I thought oh my god, what's going on?"

The hazmat crew determined the powder to be silica gel, a harmless substance used in electronic packaging to control moisture. They have yet to determine where it came from.

Henry has already talked to his postman who says the package was not part of the day's mail. Henry believes someone walked down his cul-de-sac Thursday afternoon and hand delivered it. The only question he has is who and why.

"Why would you gamble away your freedom for a joke? Who is going to do that just to harass somebody?