OFFICERS LOOK FOR MAN THOUGHT TO HAVE FAKED DEATH TO DODGE POLICE

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A 38-year-old man who was scheduled to be sentenced on a charge of child molestation Tuesday is being sought by area law enforcement officers after he apparently feigned a jump from the Mississippi River bridge, the Perry County sheriff said.

Joseph Hernandez of Ironton, Mo., had likely left a coat with a suicide note with his signature that was found on the bridge between Perryville and Chester, Ill., Tuesday morning, Sheriff Gary Schaaf said.

"It looked like a suicide note," Schaaf said. "It said I'd rather die than go to jail for the rest of my life for something I didn't do.'"

A man had been reported standing on the bridge about 11:30 p.m. Monday, but when a Chester police officer went to check, no one was found.

On Tuesday morning, a Randolph County sheriff's deputy returning across the bridge to Illinois noticed the coat stuffed into the bridge's railing.

A search for a body in the river Tuesday involved several law enforcement agencies, including a helicopter from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and a private aircraft belonging to a Perryville resident. But no remains were found.

Investigations were also unable to find anyone named Joseph Hernandez living in either Perry or Randolph counties, Schaaf said.

However, deputies did find a Joseph Hernandez who was supposed to appear in an Ironton County court Tuesday.

Hernandez had been charged with first-degree child molestation, punishable by up to five years in prison, Iron County prosecutor Scott Killen said.

A man from Chester also told deputies he had given Hernandez a ride in his car over the bridge early Monday evening.

"Since he did not have his own car, we're pretty sure he didn't get far," Schaaf said.

Deputies were continuing to check the banks of the river for Hernandez's body on Wednesday.

"I still can't be one hundred percent sure that he didn't jump," the sheriff said.