A man who has been wanted in Idaho for more than 20 years has been caught in Creston.
RCMP say they received a tip on July 13 that Louis Edward Flood, 77, was in the area. He was convicted in 1997 for lewd conduct with a child under 16 and sex abuse of a child under 16.
In September 2001, he was on parole after serving three years of an 18-year sentence when he went missing. Flood’s case was featured on America’s Most Wanted in 2011.
RCMP Cst. Dave Bickle followed up on the tip by contacting American authorities.
“I was contacted immediately after my initial request and they provided me Flood’s records from 2001,” he said in a news release. “They outlined how he was not complying with his parole and they provided the warrant for his arrest.”
They also provided a photo Bickle used to confirm Flood’s identity. In an interview, Bickle said Flood had been in the Creston Valley at least five years and used the name Charlie Payne.
Bickle worked with Canada Border Services Agency on a removal warrant for Flood’s return to the US. He says once they learned about him, he was not hard to find, although Bickle declined to say exactly where in Creston Flood was living.
Flood “didn’t seem particularly happy” to be arrested, Bickle said. “There wasn’t any relief at finally being caught after all these years. I don’t think he was too pleased.”
But Bickle said Flood made no effort to hide his true identity.
“Not once did he attempt to bamboozle us with a false name. We had photos of him from 21 years ago. He was shown those and he was still obviously him.”
However, Flood offered no explanation of how he got across the border or what he has been up to for the last 20-plus years. Bickle said there are no records on him in that time.
Flood was taken on July 21 to the Okanagan Correctional Centre and on Monday he was returned to the US, where he will serve the rest of his prison sentence. Although he could have fought his removal from Canada, Bickle said he chose not to.
“When I spoke with a representative with Idaho Corrections, he was quite pleased Mr. Flood had been located,” Bickle said. “That fellow said Mr. Flood’s file had been on his desk for 10 years.”
For Bickle, the case was “very, very interesting.”
“I never thought I would be involved with such an interesting arrest and to have the opportunity to work with so many different agencies. This is a highlight for my career.”
“This was excellent police work by Cst. Bickle,” said Cpl. Evan Diachok, the Creston detachment commander.
“I am proud of how well he worked with all these different agencies. Everyone pulled together to get Louis Flood into custody. I would like to thank our partners in the United States and Canada Border Services for their hard work on this file.”
