Boston Area News

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Authorities in Los Angeles say a Boston kidnapping suspect is a German man who lived in the guesthouse of a San Marino couple who disappeared in 1985, WBZ has learned.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told WBZ on Monday that investigators have identified Christian Gerhartsreiter as the man being held in Boston and wanted for questioning in the disappearance of Jonathan and Linda Sohus. 

"Clark Rockefeller is the same individual known as Christian Gerhartsreiter and was also known by the name of Christopher Chichester," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

Investigators say Gerhartsreiter went by the name "Christopher Chichester" when he lived at the Sohus property at the time they went missing. He was recently using the pseudonym "Clark Rockefeller" when arrested for allegedly kidnapping his daughter in Boston.

Investigators have requested new forensic tests on skeletal remains found at the Sohus property, the Associated Press reported.

"Although detectives have identified him, he is still a person of interest. He is not a suspect. We encourage him to speak with our detectives," Whitmore said.

Rockefeller's attorney, Stephen Hrones, has said his client speaks German but does not remember anything about his life prior to 1993.  

However, at a Monday evening news conference, Hrones said his client remembers going by the name Christopher Chichester.  Rockefeller also says he remembers Linda and Jonathan Sohus.

Rockefeller told Hrones he used the name Chichester because he was an aspiring actor in California and he thought it was a more appropriate name to go by.

Rockefeller also admits to going by the name Christopher Crowe while working on Wall Street, saying he thought that was a more appropriate name for high finance.

"There's nothing wrong with using aliases as long as you don't use it for fraud," Hrones said.

"He's not a violent person. There's absolutely no record of any violence," Hrones added in response to questions about his client being tied to the California missing persons case.

According to Hrones, Rockefeller says he remembers being a tenant of Linda and Jonathan Sohus in California but that he didn't know them well.

Rockefeller has read newspaper articles written about him and those written in Germany, and says his client claims he never mentioned the name Chichester to police because no one has ever asked him about it.

He maintains his real name is Rockefeller and says he has no memory of Germany.

Investigators have been working to unravel the true identity and background of Rockefeller since he allegedly snatched his 7-year-old daughter, Reigh, from a Boston street during a supervised visit July 27.

He was caught in Baltimore, where he had bought a home and boat.

Prosecutors said 300 one-ounce gold coins and $12,000 in cash also were found in Rockefeller's apartment following his arrest.

Reigh, known to family and friends as "Snooks," was found in good condition in Baltimore and has been reunited with her mother, Sandra Boss.

Authorities have said they have no record of Rockefeller before 1993, and he claims he has no memory of his life before then. He had refused to talk to investigators or reporters. However, Hrones said Friday that his client now wants to talk to reporters. There's no word on when that may happen.

Fingerprints do appear to be linking Rockefeller in several places.

Los Angeles detectives say a man named Christopher Chichester lived on the property of Jonathan and Linda Sohus, of San Marino, Calif., who have been missing since 1985.

Police now say Rockefeller's fingerprints matched those on an old license application submitted by Chichester. They also believe Chichester was one of the aliases used by Christian Gerhart Streiter.

The Boston Globe, citing an unnamed source, said the fingerprint also matched one submitted on a stockbroker license application filed by Christopher Crowe, believed to be another alias of Chichester, who has not been seen since the Sohuses disappeared.

The Federal Criminal Police Office in Germany said it had no information on the man.

FBI spokesman Damon Katz in Boston said there is "a pending investigation to determine who this guy is," but refused to give any details. Paula Grenier, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Boston, also said agents are helping law enforcement trying to determine his identity.

Steve Savio, 39, of Berlin, Conn., said Thursday he is "100 percent certain" that Rockefeller is the same person who boarded with his family in 1980 under the name Christian Gerhart Reiter at age 17. His mother and brother agree.

Savio said his family met him after answering an advertisement in a local newspaper from a visiting German teen looking for a place to live.

Savio said when Reiter first moved in, he was sweet. After several months, however, "his true colors started showing," Savio said. 

Authorities say Rockefeller is a schemer who wanted people to believe he was an heir to the oil tycoon, though the Rockefeller family says he is not.

Savio said he last saw Reiter in 1981, but said the man kept in contact with his mother, telling her he was using the name Christopher Crowe to open a production company.

Savio said the FBI interviewed his mother in 1988 after a man identifying himself as Christopher Crowe tried to sell a pickup truck in Connecticut belonging to the Sohuses. He apparently fled before authorities could track him down.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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