Cops: Armchair Detective Proves He's Elementary

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Hollin has done extensive traveling to many exotic locations.

It was no secret that arm-chair sleuth Charles Hollin fancied himself a detective. As a factory worker in southern Indiana, his colleagues say he regularly regaled them with tales of taking on new identities and being a master of disguises.

Hollin told coworkers all about these "PI" disguises, including fake hair pieces, mustaches, and even a police badge. His colleagues say Hollin held several Internet addresses -- all for different identities -- and claimed to have traveled throughout the world, specifically Puerto Rico, Aruba, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Jamaica.

He also told them how he had surveillance equipment set up to watch those who may or may not investigate him.

Although Hollin took himself very seriously, his colleagues thought something was a little "off." And cops say Hollin was about to prove them right.

Fascination With Fictional Crime Turns To Real Danger

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Cops say Hollin claimed to own fake hair pieces, moustaches, and other disguises.

On January 20, 1999, a 10-year-old girl was walking out of the Girls Inc. in Seymour, Ind. when cops say a man approached her on the steps of the building.

According to police, the man told her he'd locked his keys in the car and needed someone with a slender arm to reach in and pop the lock.

But cops say the man revealed his true intentions when he allegedly pulled out a knife and forced the little girl into his car, driving her outside the city limits to a river.

It was there that cops say the man molested her at knifepoint, then left her on the side of the road -- stripped naked and freezing cold.

But cops say that as the man drove away, he made a crucial error.

They say he tossed the little girl's clothes out of the car at her, and accidentally tossed his own jacket along with hers.

It was exactly the clue cops needed to zero in on a suspect -- because amateur sleuth Charles Hollin had left his day planner in the pocket, as well as other evidence.

As Evidence Mounts, Suspect Flees

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Look closely at Hollin's profile to see if he looks familiar. Cops are hoping someone in the public can help locate him.

While cops began the long process of submitting the DNA for analysis, cops say Hollin stayed put, continuing his job at the factory.

According to coworkers, Hollin didn't let up on his detective act either. They quoted him as saying things like, "It would be better to be alienated on some tropical island somewhere than to be in a 10-by-10 jail cell," and asked them if they would "pull a Houdini."

By January 2000, results were finally coming back from the lab -- positively linking Hollin to the jacket and the victim to Hollin's Buick.

But cops say that's when Hollin took off, calling work to tell them he would not be coming back. Just days later, prosecutors charged Hollin, but it was too late.

He was already gone.

Now, the search is on for Hollin. Cops know he is obsessed with detective work and could be implementing one or more of his "disguises."

They're hoping someone in the public knows where he is and can help them track Hollin down and bring him to justice.