SENECA, S.C. — U.S. Marshals finally caught up to a suspect who had been on the run for 16 years when they found him in South Carolina. However, he was already dead.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, a concerned neighbor conducted a welfare check on a home in Seneca, South Carolina on Nov. 6. The neighbor stated that they hadn't seen the elderly man who lived at the Jennifer Lane home in some time and decided to check in.
However, the neighbor made what even the Marshals Service described as a "grisly" find - a decomposing body. However, it was during the death investigation that authorities found out that there was more to this elderly man than the neighbor may have known.
For the last 15 years, the man inside that home was known as James Fitzgerald. But to law enforcement agencies that had been searching for him for one year longer than that, Fitzgerald was known by his real name, Frederick Cecil McLean, who had been wanted for multiple counts of child molestation.
McLean's run from the law began when he was wanted by the San Diego Sheriff's Department in California where he was deemed a "high risk for sexually assaulting young girls." According to the U.S. Marshals Service, one victim, now an adult, claimed he had assaulted her more than 100 times from age five onward.
A warrant was issued for his arrest in 2005. He was added to the U.S. Marshals Service 15 Most Wanted list in 2006.
A Nov. 16 autopsy was conducted that confirmed his identity through fingerprints. No foul play is suspected in his death.
“We wish McLean’s fate had been determined by a court of law 15 years ago,” said U.S. Marshal Steve Stafford of the Southern District of California. “The investigators working on this case never gave up."
He added that he hopes that McLean's death brings "some sense of closure" for victims and families who now know he can never hurt another child.
But the latter point is why the investigation isn't completely over.
“The discovery of Frederick McLean’s body marks an end to the manhunt, but the investigation continues,” said U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald Davis.
Authorities said that, due to the crimes he was accused of committing before he ran from the law, there is a concern there may be more victims out there. In addition to living in Seneca, McLean also lived in Anderson, South Carolina, and Poughkeepsie, New York.
Anyone with information related to the case should contact their nearest U.S. Marshals Service Office or local law enforcement.