Man Fakes Own Death, Flees To Another State To Evade Arrest For Child Molestation

A 38-year-old man allegedly faked his own death and fled to another state to avoid being arrested for child molestation in Arizona.

He was eventually nabbed in Indiana and will be extradited back to Arizona's Maricopa County.

Christen Allen Wright was wanted on a felony warrant and was facing multiple charges of sexual misconduct with a minor and a count of child molestation when he tried to fake his own death, WLKY reported.

He asked an acquaintance to contact his family and inform them that he had passed away. The acquaintance also told them they needed to pick up his personal items from a hospital in Arizona.

The accomplice then wore scrubs and pretended to be a nurse in front of the family members.

"When his family showed up to get his belongings, they were met by somebody in the parking lot in scrubs, and they passed his belongings on," Clark County Assistant Police Chief Mark Grube said, according to WAVE.

After plotting to fake his own death, Wright left the state and drove over 1,700 miles to Indiana. He also managed to convince his wife that the move to Indiana was to start a new life.

"He had told his wife that the charges against him had been dropped, and they were going to come here and start a new life," Grube said, as per the outlet.

Officials received information about Wright possibly being in Indiana and tracked him down to a residence in Sellersburg. The address reportedly belonged to Wright's father-in-law.

Police said there were two cars with what appeared to be luggage on the roof parked outside the father-in-law's house. Although their license plates were missing, one neighbor told the outlet they had noticed Arizona plates on the vehicles.

Wright's ploy was soon foiled as law enforcement officials arrived at the front door of the Sellersburg home within a couple of days.

"I think the guy thought maybe he was flying under the radar, so to speak, and our guys snatched him up pretty quickly," Grube added.

The accused was arrested on March 24 and is being held at the Clark County Jail until he is taken back to Arizona.

"This one is unique," Grube said further. "It's not often you hear someone trying to fake a death to avoid a warrant. It's something kind of new to us, but it obviously didn't work out for the guy."