Officials seek search warrant in ricin probe

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A motel patron hospitalized after the potent poison ricin was mysteriously found in his room “barely got by in life,” according to a woman who knew him when he lived at a Utah home that agents hoped to search Saturday.

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

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

Authorities have not said how much ricin was involved but expressed confidence they have it all.

Dr. Lawrence Sands, chief health officer of the Southern Nevada Health District in Las Vegas, said health officials are still trying to confirm whether Von Bergendorff’s respiratory ailment stemmed from ricin exposure.