Police Seek Help From Public in Biofem Case

Detectives hunting for a gunman who shot and wounded an Irvine drug company executive appealed for help Thursday in finding a Los Angeles man who disappeared the day of the shooting.

Investigators have been unable to find Tony Rodriguez, who worked for a businessman charged with driving the gunman away from the shooting. Police said they want to question Rodriguez in connection with the case but stopped short of naming him a suspect.

Rodriguez was last seen 1 1/2 hours after the Feb. 28 shooting, when colleagues heard him tell his boss--Dino D’Saachs--that he was ill and ask to go home, Irvine Police Lt. Sam Allevato said.

“He just dropped off the face of the earth,” Allevato said.

D’Saachs is so far the only person charged with involvement in the shooting, which police say was the finale of an elaborate assassination plot targeting Biofem Chief Executive James Patrick Riley.

The shooting triggered one of the strangest and most complex investigations in Orange County history, sending authorities on a trail that stretched from Irvine to South Africa and involved medicine and biological weapons.

Police evacuated hundreds of people from an upscale Irvine neighborhood as authorities removed weapons, explosives and bacteria from the home of Riley’s business partner, Dr. Larry C. Ford.

Ford, who committed suicide days after the shooting, was a longtime friend of D’Saachs and a suspect in the case. An Orange County judge is scheduled to set a trial date for D’Saachs today.

Police said Rodriguez did odd jobs for various businesses D’Saachs owned near downtown Los Angeles. Detectives said Rodriguez is in his early 20s, about 5 feet 10 and 150 pounds. He was driving an older model dark green sedan with a white vinyl top, Allevato said.

Riley announced this week that he is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of his attacker.