Survivalist who faked death to avoid trial is found after six years

Investigators believe Jacob Greer planned to ‘live off the land’ using a bow and arrow

A survivalist in Iowa is being accused of faking his own death to avoid having to go to trial for two child abuse image charges.

Jacob Greer, now 28, managed to evade authorities for six years after he slipped out of his ankle monitor in 2016. He had been released on bond after being charged with two counts of possessing child abuse images and was awaiting trial when he disappeared.

The Washington Post reports that Mr Greer's probation officer attempted to contact him, but could not get in touch with him. They launched a search for Mr Greer and eventually found his car along with a suicide note left inside.

But there was no body, and no sign of Mr Greer, so federal officials issued an arrest warrant for him.

After six years of searching for Mr Greer, federal authorities finally caught up with him.

On Tuesday, the US Marshals Service announced that they had apprehended Mr Greer in Washington state, calling him a "survivalist" who fled the state and "faked his own death."

"The arrest of Jacob Greer after six years is a testament to the tenacity of Deputy U.S. Marshals and our investigative partners," US Marshal for the Souther District of Iowa Ted Kamatchus said in a news release. "Even though the case went cold, they would not quit."

Mr Greer is currently being held at a federal detention centre in Seattle and will eventually be extradited to Iowa, where he will stand trial. Law enforcement found him in Spanaway, Washington, a town of about 35,000 people 14 miles south of Tacoma.

He was originally arrested in April 2016, about two years after authorities claim he knowingly received child abuse images sometime in 2013 or 2014. A grand jury also charged with him possessing a computer with child abuse images, including some of children under the age of 12, according to court records.

He faces up to 20 years in prison for possessing child abuse images involving a prepubescent minor.

The day after his arrest, Mr Greer was released on the understanding he would appear for his court dates. He then vanished, leaving behind the fake suicide note and his vehicle.

The US Marshals said Mr Greer fled Iowa with "money, a bow, arrows, and a backpack full of survival gear." They believed his plan was to "live off the land in remote areas of the upper western states or southern Canada, hiding out in abandoned cabins."