Missing kayaker 'faked drowning death to avoid facing rape charges'

19 September 2023 , 22:44

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Melvin Phillip Emde, 41, was arrested by authorities in Georgia over a month after his son, Seth, allegedly reported him missing. (Image: St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office/Facebook)

A missing kayaker allegedly faked his own drowning death to avoid facing rape charges in court, police say.

Melvin Phillip Emde, 41, was reported to have drowned in Louisiana before being arrested over the weekend for allegedly faking his own death in a haphazard attempt to avoid facing child rape charges in North Carolina. Emde was taken into custody on Sunday and is awaiting extradition so he can "face the music for his charges in North Carolina" authorities announced.

Emde's own son had allegedly told police his father fell out of a kayak and drowned while on the Mississippi River in Hahnville, Louisiana. However officers said they became suspicious after learning of Emde's pending charges of indecent liberties with a child and statutory rape of a child by an adult. He was due in court just one day after being reported missing, authorities said.

St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said in a statement: "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."

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Emde's own son had allegedly told police his father fell out of a kayak and drowned while on the Mississippi River in Hahnville, Louisiana (St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office/Facebook)

Despite believing the ordeal to be a sham, authorities made a public show of the search for Emde, posting multiple photos to Facebook showing how they brought a cadaver dog and drones to assist in their efforts. Investigators learned that at the time he was reported missing, Emde was wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor as a condition of his release on bond and were able to track Emde’s movements, reports Law&Crime.

They discovered just hours before he was reported missing he had purchased two pre-paid phones from a Walmart in Boutte, Louisiana. Authorities said Emde only used one of the phones a few times and only for "short periods of time". With assistance from US Marshals, authorities concentrated their search in Oklahoma, where Emde and his son are from, but the trail went cold when they realized that Emde had stopped using the pre-paid phones.

However, on Sunday a Georgia State Highway Patrol officer attempted to perform a traffic stop on a motorcycle being driven without a license plate. The motorcycle attempted to avoid the stop and fled the scene but crashed, as the driver attempted to evade the officer on foot but was apprehended and placed under arrest.

The driver allegedly gave the trooper a false name, but when he was fingerprinted, investigators said they quickly learned that it was actually Emde. He currently remains in detention in Georgia as he awaits extradition back to North Carolina.

Abigail O'Leary