More than a year after allegedly kidnapping his daughter in Tennessee and keeping her hostage as he traveled around the country, an IT expert, who refers to himself as “Oscar Bourne,” evaded capture by making himself impossible to trace by authorities.
The fugitive, John Oliver Westbrook, drew this name from the Bourne trilogy movies which depicted a fictional government spy who evaded capture through multifaceted smarts, Oxygen reported. Westbrook was able to evade capture, despite continuing to do business and traveling across the United States, by using his knowledge of technology, security and bitcoin, according to Fox News.
“He is communicating in a way that’s almost impossible to trace, which makes it extremely difficult for investigators to generate significant leads in this case,” the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office said.
His daughter, Daphne, was 17 when she went missing in 2019 after she spent a weekend with Westbrook, according to The Daily Beast.
The Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office previously announced Westbrook was indicted and charged with aggravated kidnapping.
Westbrook and Daphne have been on the move over the past year to various cities around the country including Santa Fe, New Mexico; Colorado Springs, and Seattle.
In one instance, authorities were able to trace Daphne whereabouts when they found her Bible in a trash can outside a Trader Joe’s in New Mexico. (RELATED: Missing Kidnapped Teen Found Alive, Suspect Dead After Police Chase)
A number of local outlets from Seattle, Washington; Denver, Colorado; and Tampa Bay, Florida, have reported that John and Daphne may be holed up somewhere in the area.
Authorities encouraged the New Mexico horse-back riding community to “stay alert,” as there is reason to believe John takes Daphne to ride horses in that area on occasion.