'Survivalist' man who faked death to avoid child porn trial is arrested in Washington
04/07/2022 2:56 pm PDT
DES MOINES, Iowa (TCD) -- A 28-year-old man who reportedly faked his own death six years ago to avoid a trial on child pornography charges was located and taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals this week.
U.S. Marshals for the Southern District of Iowa released a statement announcing Jacob Greer’s arrest in Spanaway, Washington. The U.S. Marshals in the Southern District of Iowa worked alongside the U.S. Marshals Montana Violent Offender Task Force and U.S. Marshals in the Western District of Washington to find Greer.
According to the U.S. Marshals, Greer was initially arrested in April 2016 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers for receipt and possession of child pornography. He was reportedly released on bond the next day and was being supervised by an ankle monitor while living with his grandmother.
On May 31, 2016, however, an alert went out that he removed his GPS monitor. Officials from several agencies searched for Greer and ultimately found his vehicle with a suicide note inside, though his body was not found. The U.S. Marshals said a federal arrest warrant was issued that same day.
About a week later, on June 8, 2016, the U.S. Forestry Service reportedly located a car "associated with Greer" in Flathead, Montana. Though he was not at the campground where the car was found, investigators reportedly learned Greer bought the car with money loaned from a friend and "fled Iowa with money, a bow, arrows and a backpack full of survival gear."
Greer was seen June 3, 2016, at a Walmart in Kalispell, Montana. Investigators reportedly determined Greer was a "survivalist and had plans to live off the land in remote areas of the upper western states or southern Canada, hiding out in abandoned cabins."
According to the statement, Greer is in custody at the Federal Detention Center in Seattle and will stand trial in Des Moines.
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