Overview
- Federal prosecutors unsealed indictments Thursday charging Alen Zheng with three explosives offenses and charging his sister, Ann Mary Zheng, with accessory and evidence tampering, with Ann Mary in custody and Alen believed to be in China.
- Investigators say an improvised explosive device was left near the visitor center on March 10 after a 911 bomb report, base searches missed it, and an Air Force member found it on March 16; prosecutors say it never detonated but could have been very deadly.
- Prosecutors say the siblings sold a black Mercedes SUV and flew to China on March 12, and agents later reported explosive residue in the vehicle and device components in a home search.
- The FBI says field tests on March 18 detected possible energetic materials and moved the device to its Huntsville, Alabama, lab for full analysis, which is still underway.
- Separately, agents arrested Jonathan James Elder on March 23 over threatening calls to the base on March 18 with no link alleged to the IED, and officials say they have no evidence the bomb suspect acted for a foreign government.