Sprong Caught: AMW Exclusive Interviews

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This is how Sprong would look without a goatee.

Thanks to AMW tipsters, David John Sprong, Jr. was arrested Thursday, February 22, 2007 in Louisiana after nearly a year on the run from the law. America's Most Wanted has been following this case from the start, and Sprong's dramatic capture Thursday 2,300 miles and five states away from where he started is the stuff of law enforcement legend. 

We've been chasing this story since March 17, 2006 when the FBI says when Sprong sprang from Sacramento, Calif. and skipped a pre-trail hearing on charges of child molestation.  After we aired Sprong's story on January 27, 2007, AMW correspondent Michelle Sigona and producer Jenna Naranjo were on a plane, to Humble to figure out what Sprong was up to.  Our team on the ground found that Sprong slithered into the town of 14,000 souls, set up shop, and befriended dozens with his outrageous lies.

Millions of Americans were watching AMW that night.  What we didn't know then was, Sprong was watching too.

Cops in Texas and Louisiana and the FBI say that thanks to numerous tips coming in from AMW viewers, it appears that alleged child molester Sprong was arrested before hurting any more children.  Investigators almost nabbed Sprong in Humble, Texas and they believe that he quickly fled with his girlfriend, Clara Lenette 'Lyn' Roadear, and their daughter, Justine after seeing himself on America's Most Wanted.

Sprong is a convicted felon, registered sex offender, and most recently, bail jumper.  Before landing in Texas, Sprong was free on a million dollar bond having previously been charged with multiple molestation counts on female minors.  Cops say the purpose of the March hearing was to consolidate the multiple charges and to add a life enhancement for multiple victims by a habitual sex offender.  When Sprong failed to appear at the hearing, a warrant was issued for his arrest, and his bail bondsman Craig Stephenson in Sacramento would have been on the hook for $750,000 if Sprong wasn't caught by April 15.

We have learned that Sprong's first stop out of California was in Houston, Texas. He set up house in Houston for a few months before moving to a nearby town called Spring. Correspondent Michelle Sigona, and Producer Jenna Naranjo found that Sprong moved to Humble, Texas in November 2006, and he even opened an auto repair business right in the heart of Humble. Investigators say Sprong's auto repair shop was used as a cover to victimize the innocent.

Michelle and Jenna were let into the shop by the property owner, and they found two busted up vehicles Sprong left behind, another room with a torn up couch, and an an office full of tons of junk food -- including lollipops, his favorite. We learned that people in Humble trusted Sprong and latched onto his outrageous lies before they knew the truth!

Former Hair Salon Owner Cuts Loose

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David John Sprong.

In Texas, Michelle and Jenna went from person to person, and place to place stringing out Sprong's trail of deception. David Handley, a former business partner and friend of Sprong's says one time he told him his wife had won the Miss America contest three years in a row! Obviously -- that's a lie. Jay Chamberlin, one of Sprong's former employees, was told that Sprong's uncle owned Helzberg Diamonds. Yeah -- that's not true either. Ken Oakes, who owns the Discount Auto glass shop next door to Sprong's former business says that Sprong would often tell him he could land airplanes, he flew Apache helicopters, and was in the Army. Michelle and Jenna say just about everyone they spoke to in Humble said that Sprong told them he was in the military, that he was a retired Lt. Colonel, and his wife left him while he was recently fighting in Iraq.

Investigators say along with Sprong's outlandish lies, he would often hire young teens to work in his auto repair shop in Humble. Michelle and Jenna spoke to two teens who told them that Sprong touched them in inappropriate ways while they were working for him at his auto repair shop. The victims' mom, Mary Truitt, told our AMW team that her motherly instincts kicked in and she knew something wasn't right. That's when Mary told her daughters that they would not be working for him any longer. Mary also told our AMW team that she reported Sprong and his odd actions to the Sheriff of her local town. Sprong allegedly took one of Mary's daughters on a hefty shopping spree, and spent nearly $700 on the teen buying her clothes, shoes, make-up, a pedicure and a manicure.

Along with lavish spending habits, police use words like "controlling" and "manipulative" when describing the actions of David John Sprong, Jr, and those are the same words describe his behavior in Humble.

Sacramento Sheriff's Department Detective Bill Miller says that Sprong owned an auto shop on the west coast, but he liquidated all the merchandise to fund his life on the lam. They estimate that Sprong had close to $70,000 at his disposal but has since run through all the cash. Investigators say when Srong left Humble in late January, he only had a couple of thousand dollars to his name.

The FBI tells AMW that Sprong also owned a hair salon before going on the run. However, due to his numerous and inappropriate sexual advances, the staff quit and the store closed. Agents believe that Sprong may be looking to get back into the hair business.

Sprong Had "Family" In Tow

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Cops say Sprong may be traveling in this car.

Along with getting into Sprong's repair garage in Humble, Michelle, Jenna, and the FBI were also let into the home Sprong and his family occupied there.  According to Michelle, the place looked like it was ransacked, and it looked like Sprong left in a hurry.  There were many valuable items left behind like furniture, clothes, and personal items.  The kitchen looked like Lyn and Justine did a lot of cooking with pots and pans, and there was a lot of junk food in the pantry.  That explains why no one in Humble ever met Lyn or Justine because they spent a lot of time inside the home. For the most part, the house itself wasn't in bad shape, it's fairly new and it was located in a nice, quiet neighborhood.  The lawn was even nicely manicured. 

Investigators say Sprong applied for credit on the home with an alias of "John Ellison," and his girlfriend Lyn was using the name "Mercy."  His daughter was going by the name "Candy."  Michelle says she found evidence of the alias "Candy" on a notebook left in Justine's room in Humble.  There were posters on Justine's walls that proved she was being homeschooled.  The posters had numbers, letters, nouns, and verbs on them, and there were a lot of school books on her desk.

But the family was living in far more dire conditions in Louisiana.  When Michelle and Jenna finally met Lyn and Justine, they were living in a trailer they rented for $500 a month; there were very few possessions since they fled Humble in such a hurry after seeing themselves on AMW.  Each only took a few necessary things with them, a few changes of clothes, and the only piece of furniture in their two-bedroom trailer was one twin bed.

Details are still coming in, so stay with AMW.com as the story develops.

AMW Capture #918

End Of The Road For Fugitive Sprong

Thanks to AMW tipsters, David John Sprong, Jr. was arrested on Thursday, February 22, 2007 in Louisiana after nearly a year on the run from the law. America's Most Wanted has been following this case from the start, and Sprong's dramatic capture 2,300 miles and five states away from where he started is the stuff of law enforcement legends.

Sprong is a convicted felon, registered sex offender, and most recently, a bail jumper.  Before landing in Texas, Sprong was free on a $1 million bond having previously been charged with multiple molestation counts on female minors.  Cops say the purpose of the March hearing was to consolidate the multiple charges and to add a life enhancement for multiple victims by a habitual sex offender.  When Sprong failed to appear at the hearing, a warrant was issued for his arrest, and his bail bondsman Craig Stevenson in Sacramento would have been on the hook for $750,000 if Sprong wasn't caught by April 15, 2007. Stevenson flew to Texas twice and once to Louisiana to try and catch his man, but he was unsuccessful in bringing Sprong in on his own.

Sprong was featured on AMW for the second time on January 27, 2007. He was in Humble, Texas that night where he had been working for an automotive repair business -- the same kind of work he'd done for most of his life. Tipsters in Texas recognized him as a gregarious local and called the AMW hotline, and not long after, AMW correspondent Michelle Sigona and producer Jenna Naranjo were on a plane to follow up on the hottest leads.

Running Out Of Texas

But Sprong was watching AMW that night along with millions of other Americans, so he knew the long arm of the law couldn't be far behind him.

In fact, Sprong tells us he relied on America's Most Wanted for information for as long as he'd been running: he would watch on Saturdays -- and check AMW.com regularly -- to see what law enforcement officials knew about him, whether he'd been spotted, and what clues had been gathered about his whereabouts.

And after seeing himself in late January, he grabbed his girlfriend, Lyn Roadear, and their daughter, Justine, and jumped into their green Infiniti SUV. Sprong told us they didn't know where they were going, but they knew they needed to get out of town -- fast.

Each only took a few necessary things with them, a few changes of clothes, and the materials necessary to continue Justine's home schooling. They ended up staying at the Days Inn in Baton Rouge, La. until they could find a more permanent home. Sprong told AMW he begged, borrowed and stole to keep the family going.

Then, three weeks ago in Holden, La., the family says they spotted a small, two-bedroom trailer for rent. The owner was asking $500 a month, and they moved in shortly thereafter.

When Lyn gave AMW an exclusive tour of the trailer, conditions were bad. There was only one twin bed inside, and they had very few things from their home in Humble.

Sprong was hired to work at the A-Z Body Shop in Albany, La. where his boss tells us he did some of the best repairs his business has ever seen. When Sprong realized that he was about to be featured on AMW again on February 23, 2007, he knew AMW viewers would be looking for his SUV. Sprong tells us he took his green car to A-Z and repainted it so it wouldn't be so easily recognized.

He replaced the license plates so he wouldn't be spotted, and headed to a local bar. He headed inside shortly before 9 p.m. that night to make sure the televisions in the bar weren't tuned to FOX -- he knew people had seen him in there before, and they would recognize him on television. He then left the SUV in the parking lot, unsure if he would ever return to get it, depending on the response AMW received.

The next day, the bar's owner -- a police officer -- asked a fellow cop to run a trace on the abandoned car's license plates. They knew the plates didn't belong with the car, so they ran the car's VIN number. The cop -- who immediately recognized the case from our show the night before -- called our hotline.

Once again, Michelle and Jenna were on a plane chasing Sprong through the south -- this time, they got him.