LA PLATA, Mo. – A Maine man who vanished over a year ago was arrested in Missouri.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Gregory Heimann, 51, faked his own death to evade arrest by disappearing in a canoe near the Canadian border, and has been arrested after more than a year on the run.
Police say Heimann disappeared April 19, 2024, after leaving his home with belongings in a canoe. At first, investigators believed he may have drowned. The Maine Warden Service deployed game wardens, aircraft, boats and all-terrain vehicles and searched for him for days. They later determined his disappearance had been staged.
Authorities said local and federal investigators followed dozens of leads to try to find him for more than a year. His capture came after a lead from the Marshals Service in Maine alerted officers in Missouri.
Heimann was taken into custody Aug. 21 at an Amtrak station in La Plata, Missouri. Heimann, who initially gave authorities a fake name, was positively identified and arrested on a federal warrant.
According to WGME, Heimann is also accused of making false statements to the Department of Veteran Affairs Office, saying that he had been in a wheelchair since 2004 and could not walk or stand. However, Heimann was seen and recorded walking and standing on his own on multiple occasions in Maine.
Heimann will be now taken back to Maine to face federal charges and possibly additional state charges.
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Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Josh Taylor said in a statement, “Fugitives will find no refuge. If you’re wanted, regardless of location, we will find you, you will be apprehended, and you will be brought to justice.”
The Marshals Service credited the Eastern District of Missouri, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, and the Maine Warden Service with assisting in the case.
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