In 2018, Benjamin Hollins, 50, was convicted of kidnapping and attempted molestation of a 16-year-old.
As part of his sentence, Hollins was ordered to register yearly as a sex offender, according to Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.
However, Hollins didn’t register in 2024 because he was presumed dead. That death has now been debunked.
Police say Hollins “coerced” a woman into telling authorities she had seen him jump off a bridge and commit suicide in October 2023.
Lamb said a “massive amount” of resources were utilized in the attempt to recover Hollins’s body, but eventually the search had to be abandoned.
Apparently because Hollins was secretly still alive.
The Chandler Police Department received a tip that Hollins did not in fact perish in a fall from a bridge and found him in Mesa living under a different name.
Authorities have yet to announce what Hollins will be charged with.