A convicted sex offender who vanished in 2010 after staging his own death to escape justice was finally tracked down and arrested in Indiana.
Gary Wayne Howard, who was convicted in 2007 on 22 counts of child pornography possession in Pinellas County and labeled a lifetime sex offender, fled Florida in 2010 after violating probation.
He then disappeared, leaving behind a trail of deception that included a faked suicide and years of hiding in plain sight.
Gary Howard was arrested on November 13 after hiding from Florida police since 2010. Credit: Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office
Faked death, real escape
According to Fox59, the 76-year-old is believed to have abandoned an Enterprise rental car near Mauzy Lake in Kentucky to make it appear as though he took his own life, officials said.
The calculated move delayed authorities for years. In March 2011, a warrant was issued out of Pinellas County after Howard failed to register as a sex offender, triggering a wave of federal charges and intensified efforts to locate him.
“This arrest exemplifies the tenacity and determination of Deputy US Marshals and our task force partners to bring every fugitive to Justice,” said William Berger Sr., US Marshal for the Middle District of Florida.
“You can run, you can hide, but law enforcement never stops hunting those who defy it - justice has a way of catching up to those who run from it," they added.
According to investigators, Howard had “a significant number” of relatives in Indiana who may have helped him remain hidden.
Surveillance and interviews eventually led authorities to a home in Indiana’s historic Irvington neighborhood, where the sex offender was seen and positively identified leaving the house.
After US marshals arrested him when he stepped out onto the front porch, he chillingly told them: “I had hoped to be dead before you caught up with me."
Howard could face imprisonment for violation of probation and 32 charges for failure to register as a sex offender. Credit: Jose A. Bernat Bacete / Getty
Facing decades of new charges
Howard was booked on Wednesday at the Vanderburgh County Jail, 160 miles from Indianapolis, though officials have not clarified why he is being held there instead of Marion County.
His charges are listed as coming from “other agencies,” and no bond has been set.
He is now expected to be extradited to Florida, where he faces imprisonment for violating probation and 32 counts of failing to register as a sex offender.
In addition, Indiana authorities have filed an “Adam Walsh prosecution case” against him under federal laws designed to protect children from sexual exploitation and promote online safety.