Search begins for remains of missing Calif. couple

(AP Photo/Nick Ut)

By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Investigators with ground-penetrating radar and cadaver-sniffing dogs converged on a property early this morning in San Marino, Calif., where accused kidnapper Clark Rockefeller lived in 1985, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities are searching for skeletal remains or clothing that belonged to John and Linda Sohus, a young couple who disappeared in 1985 when Rockefeller was living in their guesthouse. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said that authorities will perform a photo scan of the property, search with cadaver-sniffing dogs, and use ground-penetrating radar to hunt for long-buried remains.

"The investigators are out here today going over the property and seeing if they can find anything,'' Whitmore said. "They are using all the investigative tools available to them.''

Investigators plan to work through the weekend in a search that Whitmore said could take "days, days, days."

Workers digging a pool on the property in 1994 discovered bones believed to be those of John Sohus, but have not located Linda Sohus or her remains.

Rockefeller is considered a "person of interest" in the case. He is being held in Boston on charges of kidnapping his daughter last month.

Authorities say Rockefeller's true identity is Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a German-born con man who has used a dozen aliases.

In a telephone interview this morning, the half-sister of John Sohus expressed optimism that the investigation will, this time, reach a finite conclusion.

“I think that it’s great that they are looking and I really hope that they find more evidence and can really just make a solid case against this guy,’’ Ellen Sohus said from Arizona.

Sohus calls the man Gerharsreiter, the identity that the FBI said is the only true name that belongs to the man who has been calling himself Rockefeller for more than a decade now. She believes he was directly involved in her brother’s death and is equally culpable in Linda Sohus’ disappearance and likely death.

“I wish I could just unlock this guy’s brain and know exactly what happened,’’ she said.

Ellen Sohus said she was interviewed by investigators about 10 days ago, and that they did not provide her with details about the case they are building. Yet, "they definitely weren’t pessimistic,’’ she said. “They said they had a team of people on this…Itwas my feeling that they were hungry to get it solved.’’

Rockefeller’s defense attorney, Stephen Hrones, said in a telephone interview today that he hopes authorities end the mystery surrounding the couple, but said the outcome is of no real significance to his client.

“Good luck to them if they can identify the person or find the other missing person,’’ he said. “My client has nothing to worry about. He wasn’t involved and he never killed anybody.’’

Hrones once again acknowledged that his client did know the couple and did live in a guest house on the property, but said the interaction between them was minimal. He also repeated his contention that his client purchased John Sohus’ car from Sohus’ mother, Didi Sohus, who then failed to forward the car’s title to him.

“He hardly knew them,’’ Hrones said. “There is absolutely no motive at all. Why would my client do this?’’

(AP Photo/Nick Ut)

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