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Police said to have suspect in mind in ricin case

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2009, file photo Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Reid said Tuesday, April 16, 2013, that letter with ricin or another poison was sent to Wicker.
FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2009, file photo Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Reid said Tuesday, April 16, 2013, that letter with ricin or another poison was sent to Wicker. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File

WASHINGTON – The FBI says preliminary tests on a letter sent to President Barack Obama indicate the presence of poisonous ricin.

The letter is undergoing further testing because preliminary field tests can be unreliable, creating false positives.

The letter to Obama arrived Tuesday and was intercepted at a facility away from the White House, said Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan.

Word of the letter comes a day after lawmakers revealed that a letter mailed to Sen. Roger Wicker tested positive for poisonous ricin. That letter to Wicker, a Republican, was intercepted at a Senate mail facility just outside Washington

Tensions have been high in Washington and across the country since the deadly bombings on Monday at the Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured more than 170.

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Authorities declined to comment on a suspect or any other aspect of the investigation being led by Capitol Police and the FBI.

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