Substance turns out to be corn starch

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"We feel it was some type of prank," Sgt. James McCann said.

The yellowish powder was discovered by a SourceLink employee on Monday, McCann said. The company, a bulk mailer, immediately reported it to police, said company President Dan Jackson.

McCann said the company had received returned mail containing rocks and other items in the past because people are sometimes upset with receiving bulk mail, but Jackson said this is the first time they've received a suspicious substance.

The envelope in this case did not have a return address, McCann said.

The discovery comes three weeks after officials found a package containing the deadly poison ricin at a Greenville postal center. That case, in which no one was harmed, is still under investigation.

The SourceLink incident was the second time within a week that authorities investigated a suspicious substance that turned out to be harmless. Officials were called out to a Clemson post office over the weekend after an employee found what turned out to be baby powder on the outside of a letter.

Staff writer Andy Paras covers crime and courts. He can be reached at 298-4220.