Thanks to a tip, about 24 hours after U.S. Marshals elevated the fugitive status for a man who may have been hiding in Colorado, authorities found him in Oklahoma. U.S. Marshals said it was the fastest apprehension of a fugitive in the 37-year history of the 15 Most Wanted program.
Jacob Blair Scott, 43, was captured around midnight in Antlers, Oklahoma, in an RV park after authorities received a tip about his whereabouts, according to David Oney with U.S. Marshals Service. He is being held at the Pittsburg County Jail in Colorado.
On Wednesday, U.S. Marshals put Scott on the top 15 Most Wanted list. The U.S. Marshals said they got a break in the case after making this announcement.
Inspector Jeremy Stilwell, the lead investigator on the case for the U.S. Marshals, said a tipster called the Pushamataha Sheriff's Office in Oklahoma and said a man that fit Scott's description was staying in an RV park in the area.
"After sheriff’s deputies looked up Scott’s information, they saw he was wanted by the Marshals and immediately relayed the tip to us," Stilwell said. "We then worked with the local authorities to develop a plan for his arrest.”
Around midnight, U.S. Marshals with the Eastern District of Oklahoma and Pushamataha sheriff’s deputies went to the RV park and located the camper where they suspected Scott was living. After several calls, Scott came outside but refused to acknowledge that he was the fugitive. He admitted to his identity after authorities looked at his tattoos, according to the U.S. Marshals.
U.S. Marshals Assistant Director for Investigative Operations Jeff Tyler said the "all-out media blitz" led a citizen to call with the tip.
Scott was wanted out of Mississippi for allegedly raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter and faking his own death to avoid prosecution. The accusations arose when the stepdaughter became pregnant.
He faces a 14-count indictment that charges him with sexual battery, touching a child for lustful purposes and exploitation of a child in Jackson County, Mississippi. He never showed for a court hearing in July 2018 and when authorities started investigating, they found his abandoned dinghy floating off the coast of Orange Beach in Alabama. They found a gun and suicide note with contact information for Scott's family in the dingy, according to U.S. Marshals.
A very small amount of blood was found in the dinghy. Investigators said they did not find any evidence that indicated it was a true suicide. Later, authorities learned that Scott had withdrawn $45,000 from a bank account before he disappeared.
In a previous KMGH report from February 2019, Scott's mother claimed that her son was dead and that the 14-year-old girl seduced her son.
The U.S. Marshals describe Scott as a "survivalist" who has the knowledge to live off the grid. He's also a military veteran who received a Purple Heart in 2011 for injures while in Iraq.
He is currently awaiting extradition back to Mississippi.
This story was originally published by Stephanie Butzer at KMGH.
