DES MOINES, Iowa (KMTV) — The U. S. Marshals Service announced in a press releasethat a Des Moines man, who spent almost six years on the run and allegedly faked his own death to avoid being tried on child pornography charges, was taken into custody on Monday.
U.S. Marshals in the Southern District of Iowa, working with the U.S. Marshals Montana Violent Offender Task Force, and U.S. Marshals in the Western District of Washington, arrested Jacob Greer, 28, in Spanaway, Washington.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers originally arrested Jacob Greer, 28, in April of 2016 on charges of receipt and possession of child pornography. He was released on bond the next day under pretrial supervision with an ankle monitor and was living with his grandmother in Des Moines.
On May 31, 2016, Greer’s probation officer received an alert indicating his GPS device had been removed. A multiagency search effort ensued and Greer’s vehicle was found with a suicide note inside of it. However, searchers did not find Greer’s body. A federal arrest warrant for Greer was issued that day.
On June 8, 2016, the U.S. Forestry Service located another vehicle associated with Greer in Tuchuck Campground in Flathead, Montana, but Greer was not there. Investigators discovered Greer had allegedly purchased the car with a $1,000 loan from a friend and that he fled Iowa with money, a bow, arrows and a backpack full of survival gear.
Greer was last seen at a Wal-Mart in Kalispell, Montana on June 3, 2016, wearing a camouflage hat. Through additional interviews, investigators say they learned Greer was a survivalist and allegedly had plans to live off the land in remote areas of the upper western states or southern Canada, hiding out in abandoned cabins.
“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.”
Greer is being detained in Seattle and will be brought to Des Moines where he will stand trial.
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