A convicted Squaw Valley rapist is still missing, and a prosecutor says it appears he fled the country.
20-year-old Spencer Scarber is now a convicted rapist, and a fugitive. On Friday, he was found guilty of raping a 35-year-old woman, but was not in court to hear his own fate.
Scarber's attorney Antonio Alvarez says, "I've never had a defendant disappear on me in trial or not be there in trial, so it's a new bridge for me to cross. In the 20 years I've been doing this, this is a unique situation that I find myself in."
Scarber was reported missing Wednesday by his father. During a court hearing Monday, prosecutor Leanne Le Mon suggested the suspect skipped the country, with the help of his family.
Le Mon says Scarber was issued a passport on October 24th, 2012. She also says there's evidence that a vehicle registered to Scarber's mother, Gail Scarber, crossed the border into Mexico a little after 3:00 a.m. Wednesday; that's the same day the defendant disappeared.
About an hour after entering Mexico, records show the man's mother and sister, Crystal, used their passports to walk back into the U.S.
Defense attorney Antonio Alvarez says he has no idea where his client is.
"I'm pretty much at a standstill in terms of what I can do, or what my office can do in terms of locating Spencer. And yet my primary concern at this point is that obviously he's fine and that we can get him back and deal with this legal situation."
Alvarez has been in contact with Scarber's father Kyle, an assistant chief with the California Highway Patrol Central Division. As of Monday, Kyle says he's still searching for his missing son.
"From the information I had gotten from his family, they don't know either. As far as they're concerned, he's a missing person at this point. Whether he's abducted or left on his own, at this point I think everybody's speculating."
We did reach out to the sheriff's office for an update on this investigation. Officials aren't revealing any new information.
In addition to the rape convictions, Scarber was also found guilty on a robbery and burglary charge. A no bail warrant has now been issued for his arrest.
A judge delayed Scarber's sentencing until January 15, 2013. He could face 70 years to life in prison.
TXT 24
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