A Babysitter and a Band-Aid Wrapper: Inside the US Submarine Spy Case

On July 28, Diana Toebbe posted a Facebook message looking for a babysitter to take care of her children early on the coming Saturday morning for five to six hours. “You could just tell she was insanely smart,” said Craig Martien, 20, a 2019 graduate of Key School who worked closely with Toebbe on the yearbook and an after-school anthropology club. The response came a few days later: “I am concerned that using a dead drop location your friend prepares makes me very vulnerable,” the note from “Alice” said, according to the affidavit. “It was somewhat surprising that someone who has studied submarine warfare follows the FBI’s direction to surface for these supposedly clandestine drop-offs,” said Michael Atkinson, a former inspector general for the intelligence community. Matthew Nespole, head of the Key School, said he was “shocked and appalled” to learn of the charges against the Toebbes and that the school “supports the administration of justice by the FBI and NCIS, and will cooperate with the investigation.” The Key School placed Diana Toebbe on leave indefinitely.