Three-year fugitive captured after calling 911 to say he'd been bitten by a rattlesnake

An Idaho fugitive who spent three years on the run was eventually caught by law enforcement after calling 911 claiming he had been bitten by a rattlesnake, police said.

Ryan Paul Henry, 33, was put through to Oregon Baker County Sheriff’s Office last Thursday after telling emergency services he was on foot and lost in Hells Canyon, on Oregon’s eastern border.

Henry at first gave the call handler a false name. But after learning his real identity, the sheriff's office discovered that he was on a three year felony warrant out of Idaho.

The sheriff's office had originally planned for a search and rescue team to assist Henry, but the operation was called off after officials learned of his criminaly history.

Baker County Sheriff’s Office then dispatched six deputies and members of the US Forest Service to locate Henry.

Shortly after 10pm on 8 October, Henry was located in Hewitt Park in the Richland area, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

He was then taken to Baker County jail where and assessed by medical staff who found no evidence of a snake bite.

It was unclear what Henry was doing in the Hells Canyon area or why he was in Oregon, some 367 miles away from where he first went on the run.

Local media reported that Henry has evading authorities since 2017, after he was granted permission to attend a funeral.

He was being held in a Payette County jail on drugs charges, according to reports.

Henry will likely face further charges having been on the run for three years.

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