A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of a Moss Point man accused of child rape and suspected of faking his own death.
Jacob Blair Scott is now among the U.S. Marshal’s top 15 most-wanted fugitives.
Scott, now 43, disappeared in July just days before he was set to plead guilty to sex crime charges against a 14-year-old who got pregnant during the alleged crimes.
“Jacob Scott stands accused of unspeakable crimes against a child,” U.S. Marshal Service Director Donald Washington said in a statement. “The marshals will leave no stone unturned until we bring him to justice.”
In addition to U.S. Marshal’s, Scott is wanted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office on 14 felony sex crime charges, all involving the same girl.
He was featured “In-Pursuit with John Walsh” at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, on the Investigation Discovery channel.
He is also being sought by marshals on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Scott is a military veteran who received a Purple Heart for injuries he sustained during his deployment in Iraq.
He is believed to have faked his death in Orange Beach, Alabama.
On July 30, Alabama investigators found Scott’s abandoned dinghy about a mile off shore. In it, authorities found what appeared to a be suicide note, a handgun tied to some rope and some blood.
The Coast Guard and Orange Beach authorities conducted a seven-day search by air and water but never found Scott’s body.
An Alabama investigator told the Sun Herald it was odd for a body not to surface after that much time in the Gulf of Mexico.
Authorities became suspicious due to a lack of forensic evidence and Scott’s sudden withdrawal of $45,000 from a retirement account.
Marshals described Scott as a “survivalist” and say “his military background and knowledge of the outdoors may enable him to live of the grid.”
Scott is about 5-foot-10 and 225 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He has tattoos of a machete knife, a scorpion and a compass with feathers, a release said.
Since Scott vanished, sightings of him have been reported in Mississippi, Nevada and Louisiana. In addition, sightings were reported in Colorado, where some of Scott’s relatives live.
The mother of the alleged sex crime victim has talked to the Sun Herald about the abuse her daughter endured. She said she knew Scott would run from authorities because he had told her he would never serve a day in prison.
The abuse surfaced after the girl went to the hospital. When her mother got there, she said, she learned her daughter was pregnant and Scott was the father.
The child’s mother said she, her daughter and other family have suffered emotionally and financially since the alleged abuse surfaced.
Since then, the mother said she has lost her home to foreclosure.
Her family, she said, still lives in fear of Scott returning one day.
To report information, call a local U.S. Marshal’s office, the communications center at 877-WANTED-2 (1-877-926-8332), or log on to usmarshals.gov/tips.
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© 2020 The Sun Herald
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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This article, which was originally published by The Sun Herald, has been updated to correct Scott’s height in accordance with details from the U.S. Marshals.
