Dallas: Foul play still suspected in inquiry at Lake Highlands High

12:40 PM CDT on Thursday, May 18, 2006

By KRISTINE HUGHES / The Dallas Morning News

FBI

This surveillance photos show the person who delivered the tainted muffins to the school on Tuesday getting directions from another man.

The FBI has released a series of surveillance photos showing the young man who delivered a bag of tainted muffins to Lake Highlands High School on Tuesday. The muffins sickened 18 school employees.

The photos show the dark-haired man carrying a bag in one hand. He was wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants.

The FBI said the man portrayed in the photos is considered a "person of interest" in the case.

If a suspect is arrested, he could face federal product tampering charges as well as local and state charges, said FBI spokeswoman Lori Bailey. "We don't take these types of events lightly when people are injured or there's the potential for injury," she said.

The FBI said anyone with information about the identity of the man should call the Dallas office at 972-559-5000.

Dallas County health investigators have ruled out two of four food-borne pathogens as the cause of illness among the Lake Highlands employees who consumed the muffins.

Jacqueline M. Bell, spokeswoman for Dallas County Health and Human Services, said Wednesday that tests eliminated E. coli and ricin, a poison that can be made from castor beans.

Results of tests for salmonella and listeria monocytogenes—bacteria found in soil and water—were expected to be available on Thursday, Bell said.

Law enforcement and hospital officials, however, said they don't suspect the cause was a natural food-poisoning agent but rather a street or over-the-counter drug such as marijuana or Benadryl.

Investigators and Richardson school officials said a young man in his late teens or early 20s brought the muffins to school, saying he was working on an Eagle Scout project.

Bailey said Wednesday that interviews, forensic examination of evidence from the school, and information gathered from the hospital all point to the incident being "an intentional act."

The Lake Highlands High employees – three teachers, office workers, teachers' aides, parking lot and custodial staff – reported feeling dizzy, lightheaded and nauseous as a result of eating the muffins. They were taken by ambulance to Presbyterian Hospital, where they were treated with intravenous fluids and given various tests.

All but one was released from the hospital Tuesday, and 16 had returned to work Wednesday, Richardson school district spokeswoman Jeanne Guerra said.

The only employee to remain in the hospital overnight, 86-year-old switchboard operator Rita Greenfield, was released around 5 p.m. Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

While the muffin mystery overwhelmed the school, a blown transformer Wednesday morning left students and staff in the dark.

Ms. Guerra said classes were dismissed at 10 a.m. and buses ran their normal routes. Students who weren't able to get home were accommodated at the school until they could be picked up, she said.

"TXU said the power would be restored in four to five hours, so school should resume Thursday as usual," Guerra said.

The school's annual teacher appreciation breakfast, featuring homemade foods supplied by band boosters, took place as planned Wednesday morning.

Booster club presidents Jerry and Lisa Nagid sent parents an e-mail Tuesday night saying that principal Bob Iden told them the event was needed even more now.

Afterward, Nagid said well over 100 teachers and staff participated. Mr. Nagid said that they had power long enough to make the coffee but that everything was off by 7:30.

District officials said the muffin tainting was probably an isolated incident, so there's no need to establish policies for handling donated food in the future.

"We reminded all schools to make certain they know the origin of all treats that are brought in for staff consumption and to just be mindful of what they are eating," Guerra said.

WFAA.com contributed to this report.

E-mail khughes@dallasnews.com