A 20-year-old California woman accused of planting threatening notes aboard a cruise ship in hopes of halting a family trip and returning home to her boyfriend was charged with two counts of violating terrorism laws, federal officials said. Kelley Marie Ferguson of Laguna Hills, California, was arrested Saturday after she admitted to penning two notes vowing to kill all U.S. citizens aboard the Legend of the Seas if the ship, which had departed from Ensenada, Mexico, stopped at an American port, U.S. Attorney Edward Kubo said Monday. The discovery of the vague threats on April 22 and 23 in the same sixth-deck public restroom prompted an intense investigation aboard the ship and forced its rerouting from Hilo to waters off Honolulu. More than 120 members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force scoured the Royal Caribbean ship for biological, chemical, radiological and explosive weapons, officials said. Investigators were in the midst of interviewing the Royal Caribbean ship’s passengers and crew when Ferguson admitted to writing the notes, Kubo said. Full Story
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