AMW Case File
Reynaldo Elias Rapalo
Post-Holiday Blues For Serial Rape Suspect
After a six-day manhunt in Florida, accused serial rapist and prison escapee Reynaldo Rapalo is back in custody. When a hot tip led police right to Rapalo, they questioned the fugitive, who claimed he was a homeless man from Nicaragua. But police say his desperate lies didn't fool them, and Rapalo was brought back to his real home -- jail.
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Last updated December 27, 2005
Reynaldo Elias Rapalo
Alleged Rapist Escapes From Florida Facility
A massive manhunt is underway in Florida for a man accused of raping seven woman back in 2003. According to authorities Reynaldo Rapalo escaped from prison by stringing bed sheets together and climbing over prison walls.
Cops say Rapalo and another inmate, Idanio Bravo, used a rope made of bedsheets to climb down from the sixth floor at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center December 20, 2005. According to officials, Bravo fell during the escape and broke his ankles. He is now in custody.
What About Those Bedsheets?
Cops say Rapalo's escape was not noticed at first by guards. According to authorities, someone visiting the correctional center asked officials about the bedsheets dangling along the exterior walls. The facility immediately went into lockdown and guards discovered the pair had climbed through a vent in the ceiling, which dumps onto a seventh-floor roof.
Reynaldo Rapalo, a Honduran citizen whose visa had expired, was arrested September 19, 2003 after allegedly terrorizing the Miami community. He was scheduled to appear in court in February of 2006 for DNA evidence that allegedly links him to seven rapes and four attempted assaults in Shenandoah, Florida in 2003. Rapalo was housed in a maximum-security wing reserved for offenders accused of lewd and lascivious crimes.
Reynaldo Elias Rapalo
Freedom Lasted Just 6 Days
According to police, Reynaldo Rapalo is a dangerous man, accused of sexually assaulting seven girls. His crafty escape on December 20, 2005 from the correctional center in which he was being held pending his trial for the alleged rapes set off an intense manhunt.
It turns out freedom was short-lived for Rapalo. On December 26, 2005, after just six days, hard work paid off for the officers working the case. Police caught up with Rapalo in southwest Miami, Fla. after responding to a tip.
Post Holiday Blues
When police approached Rapalo, the fugitive was caught by surprise -- police say he tried to run away before concocting a story that he was a homeless man from Nicaragua.
Police didn't buy the lie, and they arrested him without incident. Though he did manage to spend Christmas outside a cell, Rapalo is back behind bars after just six short days of freedom.
Reynaldo Elias Rapalo
- Miami , FL
- Florida
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