Jacob Greer spent six years in prison, trying to evade charges of child pornography. Authorities said he was a “survivor” who was meant to “live off the land.” In 2016, the US Forest Service linked a car found at a campground in Montana to Greer. Here, new trees grow in the foreground near dead trees in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in Montana in 2019.
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Jacob Greer spent six years in prison, trying to evade charges of child pornography. Authorities said he was a “survivor” who was meant to “live off the land.” In 2016, the US Forest Service linked a car found at a campground in Montana to Greer. Here, new trees grow in the foreground near dead trees in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in Montana in 2019.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty
At 22, Jacob Greer thought he’d come up with the perfect plan to avoid a child pornography trial in Iowa: He’d fake his death and be taken to the wilds of the Northwest.
He’s managed to stay active for nearly six years, despite some calls for closeness. But the US Marshals Service finally caught up with him on Monday, officials announced in a statement declare.
Greer, now 28, was arrested in Spanaway, Wash., and is being held at a federal detention center in Seattle. He will be transferred back to Des Moines, Iowa, to stand trial.
Authorities said Greer was a “survivor” intending to “live out of the country” and hide in abandoned cabins in the US and Canada. It’s not clear exactly where he lived, how he survived, or whether others have helped him evade law enforcement since he rode on the autorickshaw.
Customs officers arrested Greer in 2016 on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, according to the United States Bureau of Investigation. A day later, he was released on pre-trial supervision and allowed to live with his grandmother in Des Moines as long as law enforcement was able to track him with an ankle monitor.
It looks like Greer has been planning her “suicide” for the next few weeks. On May 31, 2016, Greer’s probation officer received a surveillance alert indicating that his GPS device had been removed. That kicked off a multimedia search effort, which discovered Greer’s car with a suicide note inside but no body.
Federal officials issued an arrest warrant the same day.
About a week later, the US Forest Service linked another vehicle to Greer – one found at Tuchuck Campground in Flathead County, Montana. Investigators said: “Greer bought the car with a $1,000 loan from a friend and… he fled Iowa with money, a bow and arrow, and a backpack full of survival gear.
The Marshals Service said Greer was last seen at a Walmart store in Kalispell, Mont., just days before the vehicle was discovered. That is, until Monday, when he was found by U.S. sheriffs from the Southern District of Iowa, working with U.S. Sheriffs Montana Violent Violent Special Operations, and U.S. sheriffs. States from the Western District of Washington.
“The arrest of Jacob Greer after six years is a testament to the perseverance of our Vice Marshals and our investigative partners,” said Ted Kamatchus, Governor of the Southern District of Iowa, in a statement. An announcement. “Even though the case has turned cold, they won’t give up.”
