A welfare check at the home of a man in South Carolina led to the discovery of a man who was on the U.S. Marshals Service's "15 Most Wanted" list.
The man was living in the home in Seneca under the name James Fitzgerald, and his neighbors had no idea he was wanted for allegedly sexually assaulting multiple underage women in California over 16 years ago.
An autopsy on the decomposing body determined there was no foul play in his death. But, investigators were shocked when his fingerprints matched those of 70-year-old Frederick Cecil McLean, who had been on the run since 2005.
Authorities issued an arrest warrant for McLean in 2005 after he was accused of sexually assaulting at least eight underage females. One of his accusers claimed that McLean sexually assaulted her over 100 times for seven years, starting when she was just five years old. In 2006, McLean was added to the Marshals Service's "15 Most Wanted" list.
While the discovery of McLean's body puts an end to the manhunt, authorities are trying to determine how he managed to avoid detection while living in South Carolina for the last 15 years.
"The discovery of Frederick McLean's body marks an end to the manhunt, but the investigation continues," U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald Davis said in a statement Friday. "I want to personally thank the men and women of the Oconee County Sheriff's Office and the Oconee County Coroner's Office who dedicated hundreds of man-hours helping the Marshals identify the body and gather evidence allowing us to gain a better picture of McLean's life as a fugitive."