Woman charged with mailing ‘granular substance’ to tollway

A north suburban woman has been charged with mailing a “granular substance” in a threatening letter to the Illinois State Tollway Authority in Downers Grove earlier this month.

Cassandra Shepard, 28, faces a felony count of disorderly conduct with a false bomb or deadly substance threat, according to a statement from the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

Shepard sent the letter addressed to the “Illinois tollway b—–s” and when employees opened it, they found what appeared to be a granular substance within the envelope, prosecutors said.

The FBI, Illinois State Police, Downers Grove Fire Department and a HazMat team from Naperville responded to the scene and eventually determined the substance wasn’t dangerous, prosecutors said.

Shepard, who lives in the 1400 block of Howard Street in Evanston, was arrested and she appeared in bond court Thursday, where bond was set at $5,000. She is due back in court Oct. 6.