BYHALIA, Miss. — A Wisconsin man wanted on two counts of child rape was taken into custody Thursday after a vehicle pursuit and a subsequent manhunt that prompted a temporary school lockdown in the Byhalia area, authorities said.
Officials identified the suspect as Robert Gower and said the U.S. Marshals Service, along with deputies from Marshall and DeSoto counties and Byhalia police, apprehended him. Investigators said Gower initially fled from law enforcement in a vehicle, abandoned the vehicle and ran into a wooded area south of East Stonewall Road.
The lockdown of nearby schools was ordered as a precaution while officers searched the area and has since been lifted, authorities said. Gower was taken into custody without incident and booked into the DeSoto County Jail as a fugitive from justice.
Authorities said Gower is wanted in Sauk County, Wisconsin, on two counts of child rape and faces additional Mississippi charges including disorderly conduct, failure to obey and felony fleeing a law enforcement officer. He is scheduled to appear in Hernando Circuit Court on the felony fleeing charge and has a June 26 court date in DeSoto County Circuit Court on the additional charges. The U.S. Marshals Service is the federal agency that commonly assists in locating and apprehending fugitives. This is a developing story and will be updated as more details emerge.
