Mother Mails Son’s Ashes, Triggering Anthrax Scare

Tired of the red tape involved in trying to prove her son dead, a woman sent a small plastic bag containing some of his ashes to the company processing his student loans.

The bag and accompanying letter arrived at Sallie Mae’s office in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Oct. 12 as concern was growing about anthrax-tainted letters.

“We treated it as if it was an anthrax scare. It was a gray, powdery substance,” company Vice President Joseph Bailey said.

The 25-year-old college student died of a drug overdose in Georgia, leaving about $35,000 in federal student loans, Bailey said. Such loans are discharged if Sallie Mae or the lender receives an original or notarized copy of the death certificate.

The woman, from Washington state, first contacted Sallie Mae about the death May 17 but apparently became frustrated that the loans had not been discharged, Bailey said. He refused to name her.

“She wasn’t mad. It was just a bizarre response,” Bailey said.

Police and hazardous-material teams were called to the company, which has 800 employees and handles more than 100,000 pieces of mail a day at its office about 100 miles north of Philadelphia. Several workers went to their doctors for tests.

“People were freaking out and going to the doctor, thinking they had handled anthrax,” Bailey said.

A funeral director confirmed that the bag, with about two teaspoons of ashes, contained human remains. The company planned to return them to the woman.