Carl McWilliams
Real Name: Carl Dean McWilliams
Aliases: None known
Wanted For: Child Molestation, Rape
Missing Since: August 2000
Case[]
Details: In fall 1992 at State College, Pennsylvania, "Sarah", a young single mother was raising her three children when she met her neighbor, Carl McWilliams, whom she had gone to Penn State University with. They became close friends and he practically became part of her family. She remembered that he was friendly, personable, and close to her children. What she didn't know was that he was a convicted child molester who had served six years in prison for molesting his own eight-year-old daughter.
One day, Sarah came home to find that Carl had locked himself in a bedroom with her five-year-old daughter. She and her children quickly moved away and for years she wasn't sure whether or not to report the incident. She feared that if she told the police, it would be worse for her children. Finally, eight years later, she realized that they needed to know what happened.
In August 2000, authorities located Carl living with another woman and her children just a few miles from the neighborhood where he, Sarah, and her children had once lived. He was ordered to leave the house and relocate to a nearby motel while police investigated the allegations against him. He stayed one night, but checked out the next morning and was never seen again. He has been charged with rape, statutory rape, aggravated indecent assault, and indecent assault. He is known to change his appearance. Authorities and Sarah fear that he is living with another woman and her children.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the August 6, 2001 episode.
Results: Captured. In March 2003, an viewer saw a reairing of this case and recognized Carl as a man who was working at a restaurant on Prince Edward Island in Canada. The viewer immediately notified the Mounted Police and he was arrested. In August 2003, he was extradited back to the United States to face the charges against him. In March 2004, he was convicted of rape and assault and sentenced to forty years in prison. He died there in September 2013.
Links:
- Carl McWilliams on Unsolved Archive
- P.E.I. residents identify wanted man from U.S. TV show - March 4, 2003
- Mounties arrest man in statutory rape case - March 5, 2003
- Alleged pedophile recognized on Unsolved Mysteries arrested in Canada - March 5, 2003
- Convicted pedophile faces extradition - March 8, 2003
- State College police anxious for fugitive's return - March
- Convicted pedophile to be extradited today - August 22, 2003
- P.E.I. fugitive sent to Pennsylvania - August 22, 2003
- Conflict postpones McWilliams' trial - January 19, 2004
- Former Centre County resident convicted on rape, assault charges - March 4, 2004
- Commonwealth vs. McWilliams
- SitcomsOnline Discussion of McWilliams
- Carl McWilliams on Find a Grave