Fugitive From O.C. Is Arrested
A technology executive suspected of faking his death in 2002 after being charged with molestation was arrested Tuesday in Idaho, officials said.
Daniel James Farinholt, a 44-year-old former Lake Forest resident, was arrested in Boise, where he worked as a computer engineer at Hewlett-Packard. He was being held without bail, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
A tipster called Boise police after Farinholt was featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.”
Police said Farinholt faked his death on May 24, 2002, a day after he failed to show up for a hearing on charges he had molested a girl at his home.
Police said Farinholt left his BMW in a parking lot at El Segundo Beach. His blood-smeared 24-foot cabin cruiser, Reel’n and Rock’n, was found about a quarter-mile off the beach. Investigators and divers searched for two days before concluding that he had faked his death.
Farinholt was free on $100,000 bail at the time of his May 2002 disappearance.
When he was arrested Tuesday, the man at first denied he was Farinholt. He was expected to be extradited to Orange County in several weeks.
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