ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A man from Carbon County is behind bars, accused of trying to bring an explosive device on a plane.
Marc Muffley of Lansford was traveling from the Lehigh Valley International Airport near Allentown on Monday.
That's when investigators say TSA agents found the alleged explosive device in his checked baggage.
When airport security paged Muffley, he fled the airport.
The FBI caught up with him a few hours later at his home in Carbon County, and was taken in without issue.
He is currently locked up on explosive charges and is expected in court Thursday in Allentown.
People from the Panther Valley region could not believe something like this would happen so close to home.
"I mean, I've heard things about certain people in the area, there is always bad people in all areas; that seems a bit much for this area to me," said Amanda Remes of Coaldale.
"It's kind of scary; it could happen anywhere, Lansford just happens to be what happened there," added Kathy Staerk of Coaldale.
According to the FBI, Muffley's suitcase contained a circular item wrapped in wax paper and plastic wrap.
A bomb expert said the object contained a dark powder and a fuse.
In a statement from an airport official, "The west side of the Main Terminal was closed during the investigation for precautionary measures. The suspicious package was removed from the Airport premises. The western part of the Main Terminal reopened."
Rickie Ruch of Lansford says he wasn't surprised the suspect was found here.
"There is a lot of people like that around here, there's druggies problems with that. We are trying to clean up this town and everything, but you can only do so much. You can't make people change their minds," Ruch said.
Authorities offered no information about his possible motive.
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