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BREAKING: Smuggler thwarts Fireflies' yearslong effort to develop cordyceps vaccine
SALT LAKE CITY — A smuggler is at large after kidnapping a 14-year-old girl who may have held the key to developing a cordyceps vaccine.
Marlene, leader of the Boston Fireflies, was found dead in the St. Mary's Hospital parking garage with multiple gunshot wounds. Nearly all staff at the Salt Lake City-based hospital, including a surgeon, were found with fatal injuries.
Two Firefly surgical nurses survived the rampage.
The teen, who was being prepared for exploratory surgery, was missing. Neurosurgeon Jerry Anderson, MD, was planning to reverse engineer a vaccine using the cordyceps infection in her body.
One of the Firefly nurses said she believes the teen was with Joel Miller, a Boston smuggler who initially agreed to bring her to the hospital.
"We were prepping the girl for surgery, and he burst into the operating room and immediately shot Dr. Anderson," she said. "He told us to turn around, and when he left, the table was empty. Why we were spared, I don't know."
Dr. Anderson is survived by his daughter Abby. An investigation into Miller's whereabouts is underway.