NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) _ When 94-year-old Ottilie Lundgren became the fifth person to die from anthrax mailings in 2001, it shocked her neighbors in Oxford and increased fear across the nation.

Other victims had contracted the disease by coming into contact with anthrax-laced letters at Capitol Hill offices, a postal facility in Washington, tabloid newspaper offices in Florida and TV networks in New York. But the death of Lundgren, an elderly woman in an isolated town, was seemingly random.

Suddenly federal officials were checking her church's pews for anthrax spores. Friends had to be tested and take antibiotics.

``She was a very gentle sweet woman who tried to help everyone,'' said Shirley Davis, her niece. ``She was probably the least likely person to have this happen to.''

Plans by federal prosecutors to indict a scientist, Bruce E. Ivins, in the attacks provided some relief to those who knew Lundgren. But the man's suicide left them still searching for answers as they have for seven years.

``In a way it's a little bit of relief,'' Davis told The Associated Press Friday. ``I'd like to know why did he do it. It's just sad because it brings it all back to the families.''

But Richard Miesel, who was Lundgren's pastor at the time, said the suicide leaves unanswered questions.

``His death obviously short circuits the process of making a judgment about the evidence,'' Miesel said.

Ivins' attorney asserted the scientist's innocence and said he had been cooperating with investigators for more than a year.

Lundgren is believed to have contracted the disease from spores on a letter that passed through the same Connecticut mail distribution as some of the anthrax-laced mail. Two postal workers at Washington's Brentwood mail processing facility also died, along with a New York hospital worker and a Florida photo editor.

The attacks also sickened 17 other people nationwide.

Lundgren, a retired legal secretary who had respiratory problems, was known for her devotion to her late husband Carl, a prominent attorney who was once secretary to Gov. Raymond Baldwin, friends said. When her husband became ill, she helped him get to work so he could continue practicing law.

``She always had kind of a sparkle in her eyes,'' Miesel said. ``she loved life.''

Margaret Crowther, who helped care for Lundgren along with her husband, said they sometimes took in her mail. She and her husband had to take antibiotics.

``I often wondered what was going on and why there was no answers,'' Crowther said. ``I just hope they do find the real answers, settle this once and for all.''

Thomas Condon, a family friend who exchanged Christmas cards with Lundgren, said seven years later the attack still hurts.

``I don't think it ever really left the scene here, not completely,'' Condon said. ``Something like that you never really get over. It always stays in your memory.''