DENVER — The search for Jacob Blair Scott ended less than 24 hours after he was added to the U.S. Marshals’ Top 15 Most Wanted list, the agency announced on Thursday.
The Mississippi man was located and arrested in an RV park in Antlers, Oklahoma late Wednesday night. The U.S. Marshals previously listed Colorado as one of the locations Scott could be.
Scott, 42, is accused of faking his own death to avoid prosecution for a case involving the rape of his 14-year-old stepdaughter.
U.S. Marshals got a break in the case after coordinating a nationwide media blitz Wednesday announcing his addition to their 15 Most Wanted fugitive list and asking for information about his whereabouts.
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“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,” said Inspector Jeremy Stilwell, the lead investigator on the case for the U.S. Marshals.
“After sheriff’s deputies looked up Scott’s information, they saw he was wanted by the Marshals and immediately relayed the tip to us. We then worked with the local authorities to develop a plan for his arrest.”
U.S. Marshals and local authorities went to the RV park and located a camper where Scott was believed to be living.
After several call outs, Scott exited, but initially refused to acknowledge he was the fugitive, according to the U.S. Marshals. He admitted to his identity after authorities verified his tattoos, they said.
Scott was wanted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi for sexual battery, touching a child for lustful purposes and exploitation of a child. He's also wanted from unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
The U.S. Marshal's Office said he was originally accused of raping a 14-year-old girl who became pregnant. He was out on bond in July 2018, when investigators found his abandoned boat with a gun and a suicide note off the coast of Orange Beach, Alabama.
Scott's remains and forensic evidence of his death were never recovered, the Marshal's Office said. It was also discovered that he withdrew a large sum of money just before his disappearance.
Scott is 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.
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