A Florida Sex Offender has been arrested in Indianapolis, Indiana, after evading law enforcement for 16 years. He will be extradited to Florida and faces further imprisonment for violating probation, as well as possibly 32 Failure to Register charges in Florida and an Adam Walsh prosecution in Indiana.
In 2007, Gary W. Howard, 76, was convicted of 22 counts of Possession of Child Pornography in Pinellas County, Florida. This conviction designated Howard a Sex Offender for LIFE. In 2010, Howard absconded from Florida State Probation—never to be seen by law enforcement again.
An Enterprise rental vehicle, belonging to Howard, was discovered near Mauzy Lake in Morganfield, KY. It was a deliberate attempt by Howard to stage his own death to appear as a suicide. Subsequent evidence revealed the act was premeditated and a ploy to mislead law enforcement.
Further investigations revealed that Howard had a significant number of relatives in the Indianapolis, Indiana area, with whom he could depend on to help him stay off the grid. While working with USMS W/KY and the Great Lake Regional Fugitive Task Force (GLRFTF), investigative leads compelled law enforcement to perform surreptitious surveillance and simultaneous interviews. These interviews resulted in an admission to the whereabouts of Howard, which was determined to be a location already under surveillance.
Howard was seen and positively identified exiting the residence of the historic Irvington neighborhood in Indianapolis, Indiana. While standing on the front porch, the U.S. Marshals Service moved in and arrested him without incident. Upon arrest, Howard stated, “I had hoped to be dead before you caught up with me.”
“This arrest exemplifies the tenacity and determination of Deputy U.S. Marshals and our task force partners to bring every fugitive to Justice,” said William Berger Sr., U.S. 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.”
The mission of the Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force is to locate and apprehend fugitives, with priority given to fugitives wanted for violent crime. Founded July 1, 2008, the task force is supported by eight federal and 101 state and local agencies and operates within the southern, northern and middle districts of Florida, as well as the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands.