Iowa man Jacob Greer was arrested after faking his death to avoid child pornography charges

An Iowa man who faked his own suicide to avoid child pornography charges in 2016 has been caught, authorities said.

Jacob Greer, 28, was snapped Monday in Spanaway, Wash. – six years after he removed an ankle bracelet and fled Des Moines, the US Marshals Service said in a statement.

Ted Kamatchus, US Marshal for the Southern District of Iowa, called the arrest “a testament to the tenacity” of the department and other investigative agencies.

“Even though the case went cold, they didn’t give up,” Kamatchus said.

At the time of his disappearance, Greer had been released on bail by Immigration and Customs Enforcement since an April 2016 arrest on charges of receipt and possession of child pornography, the statement said.

Greer is “a survivor” who plans to live in abandoned cabins in remote areas of the Northwestern United States and Canada, the statement said.

He was living with his grandmother when he removed his GPS tracking device and left a fake suicide note in his vehicle. He took a survival kit containing a bow and arrow and then borrowed $1,000 from a friend to buy a car to take out of the state, authorities claim.

Greer’s new car was found at a campground in Montana a few days later. On June 3, 2016, Greer was spotted wearing a camouflage hat on his head at a Walmart in Kalispell, Montana.

It wasn’t clear what he’s been up to in the years since, or what prompted authorities to finally catch up with him.

He was in federal custody in Seattle awaiting extradition to Des Moines to appear in court Tuesday, the service said.