Ricin Man Identified-- Home, Warehouse to be Searched

According to a Homeland Security internal document obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the man in a coma whose room contained ricin is Roger Von Bergendorff, of Riverton Utah.

The ricin was discovered by his cousin, Thomas Tholen, according to an article by Associated Press, which also reported:

A down-on-his-luck Roger Von Bergendorff lived at the home of his cousin Thomas Tholen for more than a year before moving to Las Vegas about a year ago, said Tammy Ewell, who lives across the street from Tholen in Riverton, Utah.

She described Tholen and his wife, Ellen, as close friends.

"He was very much a loner. I would say more or less socially regressive. He just barely got by in life. He'd just barely make it," Ewell said of Von Bergendorff. "Tom was the last resort."

In a brief phone interview earlier Saturday, Thomas Tholen said Von Bergendorff was "holding his own" in the hospital.

Tholen, 53, wouldn't say much more about Von Bergendorff or the discovery Thursday of several vials of ricin, which is deadly in minuscule amounts, at the man's extended-stay hotel room on Valley View Boulevard near Flamingo Road.

Officials have secured Tholen's home, where Von Bergendorff is reported to have stayed, but they have not searched it because they are awaiting court approval for a warrant, FBI spokesman Juan Becerra said later Saturday.

The article also reported;

Von Bergendorff also rented a "storage bin" at Allstate Self Storage, on Boulder Highway near Desert Inn Road, that investigators inspected, a Homeland Security memo obtained by the Review-Journal stated.

A manager at the business declined to comment on Friday, referring a reporter to Las Vegas police for information on the investigation.

Tholen arrived in Las Vegas after Von Bergendorff summoned an ambulance and was hospitalized Feb. 14 in critical condition.

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