INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- A suspicious package in an Independence mailbox didn't turn out to be dangerous, but it was alarming for the woman who found it.
Linda, who did not want to give her last name, told 41 Action News she checked the mail Tuesday morning at her duplex at 9600 E. Linwood Avenue.
She said there was a package wrapped in Christmas paper inside.
"I flipped it over and the first thing I saw at the bottom was 'n*****,'" Linda said.
She alerted the mail carrier, who was still in the neighborhood, and they alerted Independence police.
Police brought out their bomb squad. Agents with the FBI also responded to the scene. A robot was sent to retrieve the package and was X-rayed on site. The package was determined to not be a threat.
Linda said police told her they found a black Barbie doll inside.
"I don't know what that's supposed to mean to me," she said.
Independence Police haven't confirmed the package's contents yet.
"Stupid. Stupid," she said reacting to the package. "And I have a grandbaby here and that's her job to get the mail. That's when I broke down. I broke down and cried and I thank God for the Holy Spirit that sent me to that mailbox and not her."
Linda said it was shocking to see a racial slur on the package, but says she's not fazed.
"I'm retired. I don't have time for that. I don't bother people. I don't live my life like that. My parents were civil rights movers back in Alabama. You call a spade a spade, you don't do no coward stuff like this. That's a coward," Linda said.
In light of the recent Austin package explosions that killed two people, police advise people to back away and immediately call police if they come across a suspicious package.
