DENVER – U.S. Marshals have come up short in the search for a suspected child molester who they say faked his death to avoid prison.
Deputies spent days following up on seven tips from the public after Denver7 broadcast the story Friday of Jacob Blair Scott.
After Denver7’s story, a third person claimed to have seen Scott at a West Denver apartment complex.
Two previous sightings in Denver put Scott at the Golden Spike Apartments off West Yale Avenue and South Federal Boulevard.
A worker at the complex told Contact7 Investigates he was sure he saw Scott smoking a cigarette at the apartments a month ago.
Another tip came from a person who thought surveillance video might have captured Scott in a convenience store, but deputy marshals said Tuesday afternoon the tip did not pan out.
Investigators think Scott, 42, faked his own death in Alabama.
Jackson County Prosecutors in Pascagoula, Miss. charged Scott with 14 sex charges alleging he raped a young girl. He disappeared on July 30, 2018, from Orange Beach, Ala. days before he was set to plead guilty in the case.
Law enforcement found a dinghy floating in the ocean, a gun tied to the boat and what they describe as a suicide note listing contact information for Scott’s family.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Katrina Crouse said previously that investigators found the situation odd from the beginning because there was no evidence typically found at the scene of a suicide.
"Normally in situations where somebody is shot, committed suicide, you're going to have other forensic-type evidence. For example, brain matter, hair, skin, bone,” she said. “None of that was found."
No body was found and Crouse said that unusual, even in the ocean.
Scott’s mother, who lives in the Denver area, has denied her son is alive. She blamed the 14-year-old girl, saying the girl seduced her son. Scott’s brother and sister live in the Denver area too.
Scott took about $45,000 from his retirement account before his disappearance and that money has not been located, Crouse said.
Investigators had previously fielded tips from people who claimed to have seen Scott in Mississippi in December.
Metro Denver Crime Stoppers pays up to $2,000 reward for information in criminal cases. Call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867.) You can also text the letters DMCS plus your message to 274637. You don’t have to leave your name and can still be eligible for a cash reward.
