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FBI searches Utah home for ricin

FBI agents wearing protective suits searched for the deadly poison ricin at a suburban home where a man possibly sickened by the deadly poison had once lived.

Authorities believed they had found all of the ricin in several vials recovered last Thursday from a Las Vegas motel where Roger Von Bergendorff had been staying, but they wanted to also check the home in Riverton, outside Salt Lake City.

"We are taking all the precautions necessary to ensure public safety," FBI agent Timothy Fuhrman said on Sunday.

Fuhrman announced on Sunday night that the search of the home and three storage units had concluded, but would not say whether the agents found anything related to the ricin scare in Las Vegas. Fuhrman did say after the daylong search that all of the Utah locations were safe.

Nearby homes were evacuated as FBI agents, covered from head to toe in full hazardous-material protection suits, meticulously searched the home belonging to Von Bergendorff's cousin Thomas Tholen.

Von Bergendorff had been staying in the motel room where the ricin was found and has been hospitalized since Feb. 14. Von Bergendorff has been unconscious, so police and the FBI have not been able to question him about the ricin found in his room.

Health officials are still trying to confirm whether Von Bergendorff's respiratory ailment stemmed from ricin exposure.

The FBI got a search warrant for Tholen's home, where Von Bergendorff once lived. The search began on Sunday morning and continued into the afternoon.

Fuhrman said it would be a long process because agents were potentially dealing with such a toxic substance.

He would not say whether the FBI suspected that Von Bergendorff had manufactured or stored ricin in the home or the rented storage units.

Residents from three surrounding homes were allowed to return by Sunday afternoon, but the Tholen house was still closed off late in the day as the search continued.

Las Vegas police said that firearms, an "anarchist-type textbook" and castor beans, from which ricin is made, were found in the motel room where the poison was discovered.

The book was tabbed at a spot containing information about ricin, police said.

Fuhrman said investigators were still trying to figure out why Von Bergendorff would have ricin but said there was no indication of any terrorist activity.

Neighbors say Von Bergendorff lived in the Tholen home for about a year before moving to Las Vegas about a year ago.

Police and health officials have tried to assure Las Vegas residents there is no health threat. There was no indication of any spread of the deadly substance, they said.
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