A Des Moines, Iowa, man has been arrested nearly six years after he faked his own death and fled the state to avoid trial on child pornography charges.
The U.S. Marshals Service announced on Tuesday that Jacob Greer, 28, was detained in Washington the previous day. He is currently being held at the Federal Detention Center in Seattle and waiting to be extradited to Iowa for trial.
"The arrest of Jacob Greer after six years is a testament to the tenacity of deputy U.S. Marshals and our investigative partners," said U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Iowa Ted Kamatchus. "Even though the case went cold, they would not quit."
In April 2016, Greer was arrested on charges of receipt and possession of child pornography. According to The Washington Post, Greer knowingly received files of child pornography between June 2013 and November 2014. He was also charged by a grand jury in Iowa with possessing a computer with sexually explicit depictions of minors, the outlet reported, noting that under federal law he was facing up to 20 years in prison.
A day after his arrest, Greer was released on bond under pretrial supervision with an ankle monitor. He was living with his grandmother in Des Moines but on May 31, 2016, his probation officer received a monitoring alert indicating Greer’s GPS device had been removed.
An extensive search ensued, leading to the discovery of Greer's vehicle. A suicide note was located inside the vehicle but because Greer's body could not be located, a federal arrest warrant was issued that day.
A week later the U.S. Forest Service found another vehicle of Greer's in Flathead County, Montana. According to The Washington Post, a friend of Greer's had given him a $1,000 loan to buy the car. He then left the vehicle at Tuchuck Campground and fled with "money, a bow, arrows, and a backpack full of survival gear," The Washington Post noted, citing authorities.
Investigators described Greer as a survivalist who "had plans to live off the land in remote areas of the upper Western states or southern Canada, hiding out in abandoned cabins."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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