A Maine man who vanished in 2024 after paddling off with a canoe, triggering a multi-day, multi-agency search and fears he drowned, was arrested last week at an Amtrak station in La Plata, Missouri, the U.S. Marshals Service said in a Monday news release.
Gregory Heimann, 51, was taken into custody Aug. 21 on a federal arrest warrant for making false statements. He had been a fugitive for more than a year following the issuance of an April 29, 2024, warrant obtained by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, according to the release.
Heimann disappeared April 19, 2024, after leaving his residence with a canoe and his belongings for a river near the Canadian border. Authorities initially believed he might have drowned. More than 15 game wardens and dozens of civilians, backed by aircraft, watercraft and all-terrain vehicles from the Maine Game Warden Service, searched for several days to find him or recover his body, the release said.
After further investigation, officials determined he was not deceased and deemed the disappearance suspicious.
Investigators from state, local and federal agencies followed leads for over a year. After receiving a collateral lead from the Marshals’ Maine Violent Offender Task Force, U.S. Marshals in the Eastern District of Missouri identified a man matching Heimann’s description at the La Plata station. The subject initially gave a false name before being positively identified as Heimann and arrested, according to the release.
Heimann will return to Maine pending extradition to face the federal charge and possible additional state charges, the Marshals said.
“This investigation underscores the extent of commitment that our Task Force and its partners will go, pursuing those who evade law enforcement. Fugitives will find no refuge. If you’re wanted, regardless of location, we will find you, you will be apprehended, and you will be brought to justice,” Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Josh Taylor said in the release.
The Marshals credited the Eastern District of Missouri, the VA Inspector General’s office and the Maine Warden Service for assistance. The Maine Violent Offender Task Force includes members of the U.S. Marshals Service, Maine Department of Corrections, Biddeford Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Maine National Guard Counterdrug Task Force and the Coast Guard Investigative Service.
