Missing kayaker Melvin Emde is arrested for faking his own drowning in Mississippi to escape child rape charges later that day.
- Melvin Emde, 41, of Talihina, Oklahoma, was reported missing by his son
- Police were immediately suspicious of the timing of the “disappearance”, as he was due to appear in court later that day.
- But they played along by searching the river and calling for information.
Police in Louisiana made an alleged child rapist believe he faked his own death on the day he appeared in court.
Melvin Emde, 41, was reported missing by his son after allegedly falling from a kayak on the Mississippi River in Hahnville on August 7.
The local sheriff’s office noted that he purchased two prepaid phones in nearby Boutte that day and was also supposed to show up in court, but sent a search party to the river and requested information.
“We immediately suspected that this may have been a faked drowning and accidental death in order for Mr. Emde to escape charges in Brunswick County, North Carolina,” the sheriff said from the parish of St Charles, Greg Champagne.
“However, we could not publicly air our suspicions for fear of warning him.”
Emde disappeared on day he was due to face child rape charges in North Carolina
Police sent officers to the suspected location of her disappearance on the Mississippi River in Hahnville
St Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said the disappearance looked like a ‘pretty good concoction’
“So we just left it as a missing person report, another person who just drowned in the river and their body didn’t turn up.
“It looks like a really good concoction they came up with, but like most of them, they don’t work.”
Deputies worked with North Carolina authorities and the U.S. Marshals Service to track Emde’s new phones, but were hampered by his “discreet” use of the devices and the fact that he rarely turned them on.
He was finally found at 3:30 a.m. Sunday when a Georgia State Highway Patrol officer tried to stop a motorcyclist because he didn’t have a license plate.
The driver fled before crashing and being arrested.
He gave a false name but was identified as Emde of Talihina, Oklahoma when officers took his fingerprints.
Local sheriffs have launched a series of appeals to find the 41-year-old man who went missing after he allegedly fell from a kayak on the Mississippi River.
Emde’s “search” proved unsuccessful despite investigators’ demonstration of high-tech equipment
Emde was eventually found by Georgia Patrol officers who spotted him driving a motorcycle without a license plate.
He now faces charges in Louisiana for wasting police time, as well as his North Carolina rape case, and prosecutors are also considering charges against his son.
“Basically filing false reports that we call a breach of public records in Louisiana, which is a crime,” Champagne said.
“Obviously he has more serious matters to attend to.
“Now is the time for Mr. Emde to face the situation for his charges in North Carolina.”