New Hampshire Sex Offender Arrested in Florida After Lengthy Bicycle Ride

Concord, NH – The U.S. Marshal Service, Manchester and Dunbarton Police Departments are pleased to announce that last evening, Edgar Gordon, 49, of Manchester, NH was arrested by the U.S. Marshals, Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force, in Oak Hill, FL. Gordon, was wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the Manchester Police Department for failure to register as a sex offender. Gordon was also wanted by NH State Probation and Parole for a parole violation with an original offense of burglary; Dunbarton Police Department for burglary and felony reckless conduct; and by Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office for failure to appear for burglary.

Information was recently developed that Gordon was residing at REANNA Ministries, where he was arrested without incident. Gordon a registered sex offender, told police in an interview that he departed New Hampshire in May of 2014 on a 39 day bicycle ride to Florida. While in Florida, Gordon told police he eluded capture by staying in the woods and various shelters, when he learned police were searching for him. Gordon is required to register as a sex offender due to a 1994 conviction in Caribou County, Maine Superior Court for Gross Sexual Assault on a victim under the age of 18. Under New Hampshire law, Gordon is considered a Tier III sex offender and is required to register for life while living in NH. A Tier III offender is the highest level of sex offender and deemed the most likely to re-offend. Gordon is being held by Volusia Co Sheriff’s Office where he has pending charges for failing to register as a sex offender in Florida. Once Gordon is cleared of any local charge he will be held as a fugitive from justice and would be extradited back to New Hampshire.

U.S. Marshal David Cargill, Jr., said “This is a great example of how the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Forces coordinate nationwide to locate sex offenders who no longer wish to comply with state sex offender registries.” Cargill continued, “The cooperative effort of these fugitive task forces made up of Federal, State and Local partners allows the agency to locate sex offenders and fugitives who may be otherwise unnoticed in other communities throughout the United States.”

Since the inception of the New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force in 2002, these partnerships have resulted in over 5,869 arrests (Updated as of 12/4/2014. These arrests have ranged in seriousness from murder, assault, unregistered sex offenders, probation and parole violations and numerous other serious offenses. Nationally the United States Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 85 local fugitive task forces, 7 regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.