Ryan Kelly Chamberlain II Becomes Object Of Nationwide Manhunt After Explosives Found In His San Francisco Apartment

FBI Launches Nationwide Manhunt After Explosives Found

The FBI has launched a nationwide manhunt for 42-year-old Ryan Kelly Chamberlain II after a raid on his San Francisco apartment turned up explosive materials, according to local media reports.

Agents in hazmat suits were seen entering the apartment, and NBC Bay Area said they found a chemical often used in assisted suicides in addition to the explosives.

At one point, a loud bang was heard from the apartment as agents disabled a device, ABC reports.

Chamberlain is 6’3,” weighs 225 pounds, has brown hair and blue eyes and may be traveling alone in a white 2008 Nissan Altima with either Texas plates BX9M04 or California plates 7FQY085. He was last seen wearing jeans and a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, and is considered armed and dangerous.

The FBI says anyone who spots Chamberlain should not approach him but instead call the agency at (415) 553-7400 or dial 911. ABC7 says his car may be rigged with explosives.

Chamberlain was involved in social media, marketing, journalism and politics. On his Aboutme page, Chamberlain describes himself as:

Communications hack. Social-Media-ist since "social" was over here and "media" was over there. SF politial (sic) junkie and oft-times operative. Save-the-world type. Early-adopter geek wannabe. Cheerleader for running and pro-cycling. Mouthpiece for movie-music. Starter-upper. Die-hard Giant.

He has worked on a number of political campaigns, both Democratic and Republican, in the San Francisco area.

"You don't survive in the very high stakes world of San Francisco politics without being competent," Alex Clemens of Barbary Coast Consulting, who has known Chamberlain for more than a decade and hired him in 2009, told KTVU.

"I'm worried about the guy. I'm hoping this ends without anybody getting hurt. I'm flabbergasted that this seems to be taking place," Clemens told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Chamberlain has a number of Twitter accounts, but none of them appear to harbor any hint of dark intentions. Here's the last tweet sent from his personal account, with a handle of Poliholic:

Many of those who know Chamberlain are surprised by the news.

"When I heard one of my business partners text me about this (manhunt), I thought he was joking," Mark Mosher, creative director of San Francisco consulting firm BMWL, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

"He was a pretty normal guy," neighbor Jessica Schlenoff told USA Today. "I would never ever have thought that this was a dangerous person at all."

But one person who knew him says he "got weird" after being let go from the sports marketing company Project Sport last year.

"The thing is, there was a lot of strange behavior since November," Randy Bramblett, 32, a professional cyclist and personal trainer told the Chronicle. "He stopped answering his phone. I think he became an extreme introvert."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reversed the license plate numbers.

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