SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- A man possibly sickened by the deadly toxin ricin in Las Vegas is described by former neighbors in Utah and California as a hotheaded child and an introverted adult.

Roger Von Bergendorff was an animal lover who, acquaintances said, recently had been beset by financial problems. Records show he filed for bankruptcy in 2000 in California. The 57-year-old remains hospitalized in critical condition at Spring Valley Hospital, where he's been since Feb. 14.

Last week, authorities reported finding ricin in several vials that a family member retrieved from Von Bergendorff's motel several blocks off the Strip.

Officials will not confirm what investigators found in searches of a home in the Salt Lake City suburb of Riverton and three storage units over the weekend. But agents and an official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta did say there's no health threat to the public.

The Utah and California investigations come after the discovery of powdered ricin in an Extended Stay America hotel just a few blocks off the Strip. A friend of Von Bergendorff's turned the poison over to hotel officials after cleaning out Von Bergendorff's room.