FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) A man who authorities say fled Fort Wayne to an island in the Pacific Ocean more than 7,000 miles away to avoid prosecution for rape, sexual assault with children, and various drug charges is back in the Allen County Jail.
WANE 15 has confirmed that the extradition of Charles Dewey III has been completed. A Deputy United States Marshall for the Northern district of Indiana had to travel to Saipan to return Dewey to the United States. Dewey arrived in Allen County around 4:30 Monday morning, Sheriff Troy Hershberger told WANE 15.
“Eventually, we will find you. It’s just a matter of time,” Hershberger said. “In this particular case, we will, once those warrants are issued, we will do everything we can to find that person. It is our job to hold people accountable and get them into court.”
Police arrested Dewey back in December of 2020, but he was able to post bond with the help of his family. He then left the country and ended up in Saipan in 2022. US Marshals tracked down Dewey there where he was living under the alias of Carter Allen Widmor. He was taken into custody on January 24 of this year.
The Deputy US Marshall who went and retrieved Dewey, Jarrid Lake, said investigation techniques led them to believe Dewey was in Saipan once the US Marshalls got a look at the case.
Lake said that because Saipan is US commonwealth, they have US Marshalls stationed there. They contacted them and passed along the intel. Dewey was quickly in custody.
“Our resources are pretty good. We have US Marshalls stationed all throughout the US and every territory and other places as well. So, a lot of times, if a local agency gives us a case — whether it be a homicide or a sex crime — we typically can get them located in a decent amount of time,” Lake said.
Part of the investigation into Dewey deals with whether he received assistance while in hiding and if so, from whom. Dewey has proclaimed his innocence, claiming he was framed and that he fled because he didn’t believe he’d receive a fair trial.
The sheriff added that this is the farthest away they’ve had someone tracked down. There was one other person they looked for longer in a homicide case in the 1990’s, but that person didn’t flee the country.
Hershberger said the initial warrant was for one charge. As they were looking for him and more charges came down, Dewey became a priority to track down.
Hershberger hasn’t received the bill yet for the costs incurred partnering with the US Marshalls and the flights to bring Dewey back. He said it could cost up to $31,000.
“I will gladly pay that to hold this person responsible,” he said.
Hershberger expressed his thanks for the partnership with the US Marshalls and all of the hard work they put in to help bring Dewey back to Allen County.
