A absconded sex offender wanted by the Jones County Sheriff's Department was captured by the Hattiesburg Police Department earlier this afternoon.
Shearea Denise Jefferson has been on the run since early this summer after failing to register as a sex offender with JCSD. She was captured in Hattiesburg in the course of a traffic stop by HPD Police Officer Dalton Daniel who previously served as a deputy with the Jones County Sheriff's Department.
"We've been actively seeking Ms. Jefferson all summer and she barely eluded capture when we executed a search warrant with HPD in Hattiesburg a few weeks back," notes JCSD Investigator Wesley Waites who is in charge of ensuring sex offender compliance for JCSD. "We had received several tips on her location, one as early as today, and fortunately HPD Officer Daniel made the traffic stop where she was identified and detained," concludes Investigator Waites.
Jefferson has been transferred to the custody and JCSD and arrested. She had been listed as a wanted person on the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) since she began evading authorities.
Jones County Sheriff Joe Berlin advises, "We play a very good game of hide and seek so if you plan on running to avoid capture, just know that you had better keep looking over your shoulder. We greatly appreciate the assistance of the Hattiesburg Police Department in capturing this subject. Teamwork is what it is all about."