Arrest Made In Case Of Threatening Letter, Suspicious Substance

Mar. 07, 2011

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@freoreport.net, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - Mary Lee Hudson, 56, of Tuscumbia, was arrested by UNA Police this afternoon on charges of a Class C felony crime in the case of a threatening letter containing a suspicious substance received on the fifth floor of Stevens Hall last Thursday. The fifth floor of Stevens Hall houses administrative offices for the UNA College of Education, where Hudson had served on the staff from 2003 to 2010. She has been on staff at UNA since 1997. The letter, addressed to a UNA faculty member, quickly prompted an evacuation of Stevens Hall last Thursday afternoon. The building's ventilation system was also shut down, while the building was decontaminated by Colbert County HazMat before reopening Friday morning. Three staff members coming in contact with the letter were also held for decontamination Thursday. They were released later that afternoon. UNA Police have worked on the case in cooperation with Colbert County HazMat, the Florence Police Department, the Florence Fire Department, the FBI, the county EMA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Alabama Department of Public Health. Following the criminal investigation, the case was turned over to the Lauderdale County District Attorney and the United State Postal Inspector. Current charges are from the Lauderdale County District Attorney.

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The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: freoreport.net and freoreport.net/unaworks/.