CAPTURED: Fugitive Child Rape Suspect Jacob Scott Caught In Oklahoma
(CBS4) -- A fugitive suspected of raping and impregnating his 14-year-old stepdaughter, who investigators thought might be hiding in Colorado, has been captured in Oklahoma. The United States Marshal's Service recently added 43-year-old Jacob Blair Scott to their Top 15 Most Wanted List.
Investigators believed Scott faked his own death by launching a boat with a suicide note and a gun off the coast of Orange Beach, Alabama, in July 2018. Investigators found his abandoned dinghy, but "little forensic evidence indicating a suicide." His remains were never recovered -- and authorities later discovered Scott had withdrawn $45,000 from a bank account before his disappearance.
"His military background and knowledge of the outdoors may enable him to live off the grid," the Marshal's Service warned.
"Within hours of our announcement and our plea to the public for information, a tipster called the Pushamataha Sheriff's Office in Oklahoma and said a man fitting the description of Jacob Scott was staying in an RV park," Inspector Jeremy Stilwell, the lead investigator on the case for the U.S. Marshals, stated. "We then worked with the local authorities to develop a plan for his arrest."
"This all-out media blitz led to a critical citizen tip that ultimately resulted in the fastest apprehension of a fugitive in the 37-year history of the 15 Most Wanted program," said U.S. Marshals Assistant Director for Investigative Operations Jeff Tyler.
"They let me know early, early that they caught him," the Sun Herald quoted the mother of the child victim as saying. "They said he was living in a camper. We are happy. We are very happy and my daughter just cried. She feels safe now."
Scott is currently being held at the Pittsburg County Jail in Oklahoma awaiting extradition back to Mississippi. He faces a 14-count indictment charging him with sexual battery, touching a child for lustful purposes, and exploitation of a child.
There had been reported possible sightings of Scott in Mississippi, Colorado, Nevada, and Louisiana.
Authorities are now working to determine if anyone helped Scott in his attempt to fake his own death and avoid capture, the Sun Herald reported.