U.S. Marshals Archives

The U.S. Marshals Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested 11 dangerous sex offenders in October in southwest Missouri. The following fugitives were tracked down by the task force:

Federal operation targets dangerous sex offenders in the Ozarks

On October 2, a federal grand jury in the Western District of Missouri indicted Adam Ray Lee of Aurora for enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography. The indictment accused Lee of driving to Kentucky in June, to meet with a 15-year-old girl he met online. Lee is further accused of driving the juvenile to Aurora and then molesting her.

The U.S. Marshals Service-Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested Lee on October 31, after tracking him to Cassville. The Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force investigated the criminal case against Lee.

On September 6, James Maggard and Wanda Maggard, Donnie Willis, and David Arnold were charged in Lawrence County with multiple crimes including 1st Degree Rape and Kidnapping or Conspiracy to Commit Rape. The charges against them stemmed from an August 21 assault of a woman near Everton. All were charged with drugging, kidnapping, raping, and conspiring to rape the 20-year-old victim of this attack.

U.S. Marshals began the hunt for these fugitives in early October and caught each over the course of the month. The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office investigated the criminal case against these fugitives.

In September, Daniel Chavez was charged in Jasper County with multiple counts of 1st Degree Child Molestation, 1st Degree Statutory Sodomy, and other sex offenses. The charges accuse Chavez of sexually molesting a juvenile female multiple times, beginning in 2006.

U.S. Marshals investigators began the hunt for Chavez in early October, and quickly tracked him through Texas and Missouri. On October 4, U.S. Marshals fugitive investigators arrested Chavez in Joplin. The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office investigated the criminal case against Chavez.

The U.S. Marshals Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force—Springfield Division, operates in conjunction with members of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, the Christian County Sheriff’s Office, the Springfield Police Department, and the Joplin Police Department.

U.S. Marshal Mark James of the Western District of Missouri praised the efforts of the detectives serving as Special Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Springfield and Joplin Police Departments and Greene and Christian County Sheriff Departments.

“This is a team effort and we have a very strong team,” James said in a press release. “These offenders prey upon the most vulnerable members of our community. If you hurt a child, this task force will find you and bring you to justice, no matter where you try and hide.”

Since January, U.S. Marshals have arrested over 8,700 sex offenders across the country.

Submit tips on fugitives directly and anonymously to the U.S. Marshals Service by downloading the USMS Tips app to your Apple or Android device, or online at:

https://www.usmarshals.gov/tips/index.html