A little after midnight on Aug. 7 in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans, a man called to report his father had gone overboard in a kayak on the Mississippi River, according to the local sheriff’s office. The son said his father drowned, according to the sheriff’s office. 

What You Need To Know

  •  Melvin Emde, 41, faked his own death on the same day he was due in court in North Carolina, officials say

  •  Officials say Emde's son called 911 and said his father went overboard from a kayak and drowned just after midnight Aug. 7

  •  Emde faces charges of statutory rape of a child by an adult and indecent liberties with a child in Brunswick County, North Carolina

  •  He was eventually found when a Georgia Highway Patrol officer tried to pull over a motorcycle that did not have a license plate, Emde tried to run from police but crashed, officials say

The man, Melvin Emde, 41, was due in court in Brunswick County, North Carolina, that same day. He was facing charges of indecent liberties with a child and statutory rape of a child by an adult in southeastern North Carolina.

After almost two months on the run, Emde is now back in North Carolina to face those charges. 

“We immediately became quite suspicious that this may have been a faked accidental drowning and death in order for Mr. Emde to escape charges in Brunswick County, North Carolina. However, we could not publicly expose our suspicions for fear of tipping him off,” said St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne. 

The sheriff’s office said Emde was from Talihina, Oklahoma. He had been wearing an ankle monitor while out on bail for the North Carolina charges, officials said. 

Investigators in Louisiana figured out that the day before he disappeared, Emde bought two prepaid cell phones at a Walmart in nearby Boutte.

“Detectives worked with authorities in North Carolina and the United States Marshals Service to track the phones. Emde discreetly used one phone and only turned it on for short periods of time,” the sheriff’s office said. “The original search focused on Oklahoma until it became obvious the phones were no longer being used.” 

The search ended on Sept. 17, not in Louisiana or Oklahoma, but in Georgia. A highway patrol officer there spotted a motorcycle at about 3:30 a.m. without a license plate, according to the sheriff’s office. When the officer tried to pull the motorcycle over, it sped away, but then the bike crashed.

The driver of the motorcycle tried to run on foot, but police caught up with him, the sheriff’s office said. At first the man gave a fake name, but fingerprints confirmed that it was Emde, officials said. 

On Oct. 4, Emde was booked back in Brunswick County jail, now with a $1 million bond and a new charge of failure to appear, jail records show. 

“Now it’s time for Mr. Emde to face the music for his charges in North Carolina,” the St. Charles Parish sheriff said.