The Gainesville Sun, Florida House of Representatives and nine Marion County public offices received envelopes Monday containing an unidentified white powder that turned out to be flour.
The return address on the envelopes, which were sent through the U.S. Postal Service, identified the sender as Osama bin Laden - spelled backward - at a fake address in Ocala, according to an announcement from the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
Gainesville Fire Rescue sent two hazardous materials crews to investigate the envelope at The Gainesville Sun on Monday morning, Chief Donnie Sessions said.
Since Sept. 11, Sessions estimated that GFR had responded to about 700 or 800 similar calls, none of which turned out to be harmful.
The calls aren't as common in Marion County. Capt. Jimmy Pogue of the sheriff's office said nothing similar had happened since anthrax scares in 2001.
The sheriff's office will continue to investigate with the help of the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Pogue said.
