The first environmentalist and animal rights activist named to the FBI's list of "Most Wanted" terror suspects - and wanted for two Bay Area bombings - hasn't been seen for a decade.
And so on Friday morning, the FBI held a news conference to bring national attention again to the agency's ten-year efforts to locate Daniel Andreas San Diego, a 35-year-old computer specialist avid sailor and strict vegan from Berkeley.
Without giving too many specifics, FBI agents said that tips have come in placing him in Northern and Central California as well as Massachusetts. Investigators have also scoured Germany, the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, France, Spain Denmark, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Argentina, the Philippines, and Chile - all to no avail.
The FBI is still offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to his capture, five times the reward amounts offered for other so-called eco-terrorists wanted in the U.S.
Since 2003, San Diego has been sought by the FBI after his alleged connection to bombings of two corporate offices in the Bay Area: Chiron Corporation, a biotech firm, that used to be located in Emeryville, Calif. and is now called Novartis, and Shaklee Corporation, a nutrition and cosmetics company in Pleasanton, Calif.. The bombings occurred in August and September of that year, respectively, and in the latter one, the bomb was strapped with nails.
Shaklee contacted NBC Bay Area to deny they've ever participated in animal research on their products. We've posted the companies statement below.
San Diego had been under surveillance back then, but discovered he was being watched and walked away from downtown San Francisco, never returning.
A group calling itself "Revolutionary Cells" took responsibility for the blasts, telling followers in a series of e-mails that Chiron and Shaklee had been targeted for their alleged ties to a research company that conducted drug and chemical experiments on animals.
San Diego, who was born in Berkeley, grew up in San Rafael, Calif. and attended Terra Linda High School in Marin County. At the time of the bombings, he lives in Schellville, Calif., a small community outside Sonoma County.
The FBI charged San Diego in 2004 in absentia.
But the agency didn't place the domestic, left-leaning suspect on its "Most Wanted" terror list in 2009, days after the Obama administration was criticized for internal reports suggesting some military veterans could be susceptible to right-wing extremist recruiters or commit lone acts of violence.
At the time of his esccape, San Diego owned a 9mm handgun and was considered "armed and dangerous."
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On his stomach, he has tattoo images of burning and collapsing buildings. San Diego has unusual tattoos, including one that shows a burning field and proclaims, "It only takes a spark."
Statement from Shaklee Corporation:
"Shaklee Corporation actively supports the development, use, and approval of safe alternatives to animal testing throughout the world. As a matter of policy, Shaklee Corporation is opposed to and does not conduct animal testing of any kind on any Shaklee product. In one foreign market, the regulatory agencies may conduct their own independent testing on our products which we do not control.
"In 2003, our Shaklee World Headquarters was bombed by an individual who mistakenly targeted us for animal testing. This testing had absolutely nothing to do with us or our products. In fact, it was conducted separately by a pharmaceutical corporation that owned our company at the time. We have been independent since 2004. Unfortunately, this misguided act of violence and continued media coverage of the alleged bomber has created confusion that erroneously links our company with animal testing. Nothing can be further from the truth. We believe in and support the ethical treatment of all animals."
The Associated Press and NBC Bay Area's Caitlin Matalone contributed to this report.
