NEW ORLEANS—A man arrested after a weekend police chase and motorcycle crash in Georgia turned out to be fugitive accused of avoiding a child rape charge by faking his own drowning death last month in a Mississippi River kayaking accident, according to a Louisiana sheriff.
Melvin Emde, 41, of Talihina, Oklahoma, had been reported missing by his son early on Aug. 7, St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said in a news release. Authorities were told at the time that Emde had fallen from a kayak while fishing and had drowned. The sheriff’s office reported at the time that the search spanned two days and used divers, sonar, a small boat and a drone.
