Fruitcake temporarily halts Seattle ferry service, forces evacuation of terminal

SEATTLE -- A suspicious package that forced authorities to shut down and evacuate Seattle's Colman Dock for a while on Tuesday morning turned out to be a "wrapped present located underneath a Christmas tree in the terminal's lobby," according to the Washington State Patrol.

The State Patrol said troopers working the ferry terminal with K-9 unites were notified at about 10:10 a.m. Tuesday of a suspicious package in the pedestrian waiting area of the Colman Dock terminal.

"Troopers and State Ferry employees worked to evacuate the terminal out of an abundance of caution. All inbound ferries were held away from the terminal until the package could be deemed safe," the State Patrol said in a news release.

The Seattle police bomb squad arrived and investigated the package.

Trooper Kevin Fortino says the gift was found to be a fruitcake.

Fortino says it wasn't clear why the fruitcake was left there.

"The suspicious package was a wrapped present located underneath a Christmas tree in the terminal’s lobby. The Christmas tree itself was a decoration, and there had not been any presents located under the tree during its time displayed. Furthermore, there was no address label on the box itself which was concerning for responding emergency personnel," the news release said.

Once the package was deemed safe, the Colman Ferry Terminal was reopened at about 10:50 a.m.