Aug 7, 2008 5:40 pm US/Eastern
Immigration Officials Join 'Rockefeller' Inquiries
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBS) ―
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Immigration officials are now involved in the investigation into the shadowy past of "Clark Rockefeller," seen here with his daughter Reigh.
CBS
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Clark Rockefeller with his daughter, Reigh.
CBS
Immigration officials are now involved in the investigation into the shadowy past of "Clark Rockefeller."
A Connecticut man says he believes the mystery man was a German exchange student who stayed with his family nearly 30 years ago.
Steve Savio, a man whose family housed a German exchange student decades ago, says he's positive that Rockefeller is that boarder, who at the time called himself "Christian Gerhart Reiter."
Savio says the pictures of Rockefeller taken after his arrest, wearing distinctive black glasses, look just like Reiter.
Savio's family was interviewed in 1988 about a possible connection between Reiter and the disappearance of a California couple, John and Linda Sohus.
That young couple lived in the wealthy L.A. suburb of San Marino, until they vanished in 1985.
Their case had gone cold until Rockefeller's fingerprints were taken after his arrest last Saturday.
"It pops up from this case back in 1985," CBS legal analyst Lisa Bloom said. "There's a fingerprint link to a driver's license application this 'Chichester' made back in the 1980s."
The man known as Christopher Chichester lived on the Sohus' property. He disappeared around the same time the couple went missing.
Authorities are now investigating the possibility that Chichester and Clark Rockefeller are the same person.
"It has brought up a lot of emotion, [and] turmoil in some ways," Ellen Sohus, John's half-sister, said. "But it's been a relief to have some action for my brother again."
In 1994, the new owners of the Sohus' property uncovered human remains when they were digging a swimming pool.
The badly damaged remains were believed to be those of Jonathan Sohus, but they were never positively identified.
Linda Sohus has never been found.
Relatives of the missing couple say they believe Rockefeller had a hand in their disappearance.
"I certainly think this individual holds the key to finding the answers we're all looking for," Chris Sohus, John's half-brother, said.
But those answers may be hard to come by, as Rockefeller has refused to speak to investigators.
A postcard was recovered that was sent from Paris, apparently from Linda Sohus to her friend Lydia Marano.
It was believed that she and John had planned to go to Connecticut, not Europe, before they disappeared.
Chichester had told family and friends that they didn't vanish.
He said the couple was working for the government on a top secret mission.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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