Posted by By DONNIE JOHNSTON on
An Internet relationship with a Nigerian man has resulted in trouble for a Culpeper woman.
Culpeper town police evacuated three apartments and closed Highview Court for more than two hours yesterday after the unidentified middle-aged woman reported that two suspicious boxes that had been ordered by the man were in her possession, according to Detective Richard Brooking.
Brooking said the woman had been receiving Instant Messages from the Nigerian for some time and the two had developed some type of long-distance relationship. The man then had an American firm send two boxes to the woman, which she was supposed to forward to him in Nigeria, Brooking said.
When the boxes did not arrive in Nigeria in a timely manner, the man began sending Instant Message threats "that involved her well-being as well as the well-being of others," Brooking said.
The woman then apparently became suspicious about the contents of the boxes and alerted police, Brooking said. Investigators blocked off Highview and evacuated the woman's apartment and two others about 10 a.m.
State police bomb dogs were called in, but detected no explosives in either box, Brooking said. When the packages were opened, they turned out to contain electronic-recording equipment from a legitimate manufacturer.
Police are unsure just why the Nigerian man wanted the equipment shipped to the Culpeper woman before being sent to him but they suspect it was part of some type of scam, Brooking said.
They are also unsure whether the Nigerian man or anyone else had paid for the recording devices. The equipment and the question of what to do with it were left with the Culpeper woman.
To reach DONNIE JOHNSTON: DJohn40330@aol.com