Hotel residents fear ricin tie

Las Vegas police are looking into whether the man at the center of a ricin investigation recently lived at a Boulder Highway hotel, several miles from where the deadly biological agent was discovered.

Guests at the Extended Stay America on Boulder Highway said they fear that Roger Von Bergendorff, who is in critical condition at a local hospital, might have left some of the toxic substance behind.

An anonymous tipster Monday said Von Bergendorff lived at the hotel on Boulder Highway, near Desert Inn Road, for about a year, according to Las Vegas police spokesman Jose Montoya.

Las Vegas police have not identified by name the 57-year-old man at the center of the investigation. Montoya said he didn't know whether that man once lived at the hotel at 4240 Boulder Highway. He said the tip was passed on to Homeland Security agents within the department. He said he didn't believe hotel guests are in harm's way.

Alice Neirynck, 66, a hotel guest, questioned police's claim about resident safety Tuesday evening. The part-time Las Vegas resident lives next to suite 1111, where she said Von Bergendorff lived since last winter.

"Why hasn't Homeland Security checked that room?" Neirynck asked. "He lived there for more than a year. If he was making ricin, it would have been there."

Neirynck, her husband Bob, 71, and hotel guest Jim Minteer, 68, are regulars at the hotel who call themselves "snow birds." They regularly flee their Eastern home states in the winter for the warmer climates of Las Vegas.

They said the introverted Von Bergendorff lived with his German shepherd and two cats. They said they believed he was evicted in February.

A manager at the hotel Monday wouldn't comment on whether Von Bergendorff once lived there, and a national spokeswoman with the hotel chain said Tuesday she couldn't confirm whether he was a resident because it would violate her company's privacy policy.

Montoya said he didn't know specifics of the police inquiry. He said guests at the hotel should remain calm.

"The captain has been made aware of it, and he said he's on it," Montoya said of Homeland Security Capt. Joseph Lombardo.

"That leads me to believe we already knew about it and everything was OK."

Only miniscule amounts of ricin can be deadly. It's only legal use is for cancer research.

Von Bergendorff remained in critical condition Tuesday afternoon at Spring Valley Hospital. Officials have not linked his hospitalization to ricin exposure. Von Bergendorff summoned an ambulance Feb. 14 to another Extended Stay America, 4270 S. Valley View Blvd, where he was staying several blocks off the Strip.

A Homeland Security memo obtained by the Review-Journal last week said a storage bin rented by Von Bergendorff next to the Boulder Highway hotel was inspected. Montoya said he didn't know whether police have searched the hotel room.

Las Vegas police Thursday found vials of ricin at the Valley View Extended Stay America, where Von Bergendorff was residing in mid February. They also found guns and literature about anarchy with information on the deadly toxin. Police have said there is no connection between the ricin discovery and terrorism. They also said there is no public threat of exposure.

The Neiryncks and Minteer described Von Bergendorff very similarly to how he was described by neighbors in Utah, where he used to live with his cousin, Thomas Tholen. The Associated Press reported Von Bergendorff was a drifter who loved animals and was in financial trouble. The FBI searched the cousin's home in suburban Salt Lake City where Von Bergendorff once stayed. The search didn't find any health threats, the FBI said.

Public records show Von Bergendorff had at least six addresses between 1983 and 2007 in cities in Utah and California.

The three Boulder Highway hotel guests said Von Bergendorff kept to himself and never revealed anything about his family or past other than saying his brother gave him the German shepherd.

Alice Neirynck said she would sometimes hear Von Bergendorff play Frank Sinatra tunes through the adjoining wall. Von Bergendorff told her he worked as a graphic design artist, but he wouldn't elaborate, she said.

All three hotel guests said Von Bergendorff drove an older model Pontiac sedan with a Utah license plate.

"The guy appeared to be normal," Minteer said. "He was a lot nicer than some of the people who live here."

They said Von Bergendorff would go in and out of the hotel at odd times. The only thing normal about his schedule was that he walked his dog in the morning and at night, they said.

Bob Neirynck said he drove Von Bergendorff around the valley a few times to run errands in early February because Von Bergendorff was having car problems.

Neirynck said Von Bergendorff kept to himself while riding shotgun.

"I didn't think anything out of the ordinary when I took him places," Neirynck said.

"He just kind of sat there."

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-4638.