A Florida fugitive who faked his own death to dodge arrest and stayed off the grid for nearly 16 years was finally found living in Indiana — and told investigators he had hoped to die before they caught up with him.
Gary Wayne Howard, 74, was taken into custody Thursday at his home near Indianapolis after spending nearly 14 years on the run following the fake death he staged back in 2010.
Howard delivered the chilling remark as officers led him away.
“I had hoped to be dead before you caught up with me,” he reportedly told agents, according to WXIN.
Gary Howard was taken into custody in Indianapolis on Nov. 13, 2025, ending a run that began in 2010 when he first slipped away from Florida authorities. Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office
The 74-year-old was designated a lifetime sex offender in Florida after being convicted in 2007 on 22 counts of child-pornography possession in Pinellas County, according to court records reviewed by Faqinsurances.
Three years later, Howard violated his probation and slipped out of the Sunshine State, fleeing to Indiana.
Investigators believe Howard ditched an Enterprise rental car near Mauzy Lake in Morganfield, Kentucky, to make it look like he had taken his own life, officials said.
Officials called the scheme a “deliberate attempt by Howard to stage his own death to appear as a suicide.”
Pinellas County issued an arrest warrant for Howard in March 2011 after he failed to register as a sex offender.
Court records show the order directed that the 5-foot-5, 250-pound fugitive be safely brought to Clearwater, Florida, to face his charges.
Detectives discovered Howard had a “significant number of relatives” living in Indiana that he could “depend on to help him stay off the grid.”
Surveillance revealed Howard living in a home in Indianapolis’ Irvington neighborhood. U.S. Marshals arrested him Thursday as he stepped onto his front porch.
Howard was booked into Vanderburgh County Jail, about 160 miles southwest of Indianapolis.
He is being held on charges from other agencies and is expected to be extradited to Florida, where he could face prison time for violating probation and 32 counts of failing to register as a sex offender.
Howard is also facing charges in Indiana under the Adam Walsh Act, a federal law designed to protect children from sexual exploitation and violent crime, combat child abuse and child pornography, and promote Internet safety.
“This arrest exemplifies the tenacity and determination of Deputy US Marshals and our task force partners to bring every fugitive to Justice,” said William Berger Sr., US Marshal for the Middle District of Florida.
“You can run, you can hide, but law enforcement never stops hunting those who defy it – justice has a way of catching up to those who run from it,” Berger said.
