What’s next for Jacob Blair Scott, the most-wanted fugitive who’s back on the Coast
Jacob Blair Scott, a most-wanted fugitive who faked his own death to avoid prison for child sex crimes involving a Coast girl, was returned to Jackson County on Wednesday morning.
The move came after Scott, 43, of Moss Point, had a court appearance before Judge Robert H. Walker in federal court in Gulfport, where he was facing a charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
The government dismissed the federal charge Wednesday, paving the way for Scott’s return to Jackson County to face trial there on 14 felony sex crime charges involving a then 14-year-old girl he got pregnant.
Scott is set for a status hearing in the Jackson County case on March 11. The case had previously been closed after Scott’s 2018 disappearance pending any new developments in the case.
If convicted of all the charges in Jackson County, Scott could go to prison for life.
Scott went missing just days before he was to go to court to plea in the sex crimes case in early July 2018 and was arrested in Oklahoma earlier this year.
On July 30, 2018, Alabama authorities found Scott’s abandoned dinghy about a mile offshore in Orange Beach. They suspected early-on he had faked his death.
In the boat, authorities found what appeared to be a suicide note, a handgun tied to a rope and a very small amount of blood. His pickup truck was in a nearby parking lot in Orange Beach.
Scott had also withdrawn $45,000 from his retirement account shortly before his disappearance and had a retirement account from Chevron.
Scott had also told the mother of the child victim that he would never go to prison for the crimes. She said he had threatened to harm the child.
Jacob Scott Blair’s capture
Authorities believed Scott knew how live off the grid because he was a seasoned Army veteran who had even received a Purple Heart after he was injured during a deployment in Iraq.
His capture came after Scott was named one of U.S. Marshal’s top 15 most-wanted fugitives and was featured on Investigation Discovery’s “In-Pursuit with John Walsh.”
Scott had been using the alias Luke and was staying in a camper at a campground in Antlers, Oklahoma. He had been doing odd jobs, such as yard work, to make money.
Jackson County Judge Kathy King Jackson had issued a warrant for Scott’s arrest when he failed to show up for a plea in his criminal case in 2018.
District Angel Myers McIlrath said a plea deal is no longer an option for Scott.
Victim feels safe after capture
The Sun Herald conducted exclusive interviews with the mother of the child victim before and after his arrest.
The mother said Scott had told her he would never go to prison for the crimes and had even threatened to harm the child victim at one point.
After his arrest, the mother was among the first to learn of his capture.
“We are happy,” she told the Sun Herald. “We are happy and my daughter just cried. She feels safe now.”
Marshals caught Scott by surprise at the Oklahoma campgroud the night of his Jan. 30 capture.
Scott was being held in at the Pittsburg County jail in Oklahoma pending extradition back to Mississippi. He arrived at the Harrison County jail Tuesday and was transferred to the Jackson County jail after his court appearance Wednesday.
The investigation into Scott’s disappearance is ongoing to determine if anyone, including Scott’s immediate relatives, aided him in his attempt to fake his death and to avoid capture.
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 2:52 PM.
