Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Suspicious Package for First Lady Michelle Obama Sent to Waldorf: NYPD

By  Gwynne Hogan and Murray Weiss | November 25, 2015 10:50am 

 A package containing a cell phone, a black wire and some kind of electronic device was sent to Michelle Obama at the Waldorf Astoria, police said. 
A package containing a cell phone, a black wire and some kind of electronic device was sent to Michelle Obama at the Waldorf Astoria, police said. 
View Full Caption
Getty Images, Shutterstock

MIDTOWN — A mysterious package containing a cellphone, a black wire and a white electronic device, was sent to first lady Michelle Obama, care of the Waldorf Astoria New York, police said.

“Michelle Obama phd/esq First Lady XO,” the unidentified sender scrawled on the outside of the box, police said. Obama was not staying at the hotel.

The package arrived at the hotel at 301 Park Ave. on Nov. 3 but wasn't sent to hotel security until Nov. 15. The package was then reported to police.

The NYPD's Intelligence Division and the secret service were called in to investigate and they determined it was not a bomb, police sources said.

Investigators tracked down the person who sent the package, who sources said has a history of mailing letters and items to government officials, but they have not been perceived as real threats. Officials said they're keeping an eye on the sender.

The sender was not arrested and his or her name was not released. 

President Barack Obama was in New York on Nov. 2, a day before the package arrived, though he didn't stay the night and it wasn't clear if the first lady was traveling with him.

Even if the pair had been in the city, however, they wouldn't have been at the Waldorf Astoria. The Obama's announced in September they would no longer patronize the hotel because of Chinese ownership with close ties to the country's Communist government. 

Security and managers at the hotel didn't return a request for comment.