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Fugitive on run for 24 years arrested in Texas

08/31/2006

Associated Press


A Canadian man sought by Flathead County authorities after crashing a rented airplane into a lake and swimming away as it sank with his girlfriend inside has been arrested in Texas after 24 years as a fugitive.

Jaroslaw "Jerry" Ambrozuk was arrested Wednesday on a warrant for negligent homicide in the Aug. 22, 1982, death of 18-year-old Dianne Babcock.

Police in Plano, Texas, arrested the 43-year-old and set bail at $20,000. However, authorities said the Canadian national cannot bond out due to outstanding immigration violations.

It was not known Thursday night if Ambrozuk has an attorney. A call to his house in Plano was not immediately returned to The Associated Press.

Authorities said Ambrozuk, then 19, and Babcock were supposed to have been flying from Penticton, British Columbia to Vancouver, B.C., when he somehow veered off course into Montana.

Authorities said Ambrozuk's strange behavior after the crash raised suspicion.

He didn't report the crash or his girlfriend's death to authorities, he apparently built a campfire on the shore of the lake to dry off and then vanished.

Authorities know that Ambrozuk called a friend after the crash, saying the plane was at the bottom of Little Bitterroot Lake near Marion. He said he swam free of the wreckage but Babcock's seat belt was jammed and he was unable to free her.

"We didn't really believe we would find the plane in Bitterroot Lake," said Sheriff Jim Dupont, who was a deputy at the time of the crash.

But a search found evidence along the shore of a campfire. In the burned debris, Dupont — a pilot — recognized plane parts.

"That's when we started looking for the plane," Dupont said.

Searchers found the Cessna 150 in 220 feet of water. Babcock's body was still inside. Her seat belt wasn't jammed. She had drowned.

Dupont said it didn't appear Ambrozuk tried to help Babcock.

"She wasn't injured to the point she couldn't get out of the aircraft," he said. "Why wouldn't he help her get out?"

Missing from the plane were cash and other items. A sealed, waterproof trash bag with a rope attached was found on the lake shore. People who later said they saw someone who looked like Ambrozuk on the shore said he was wet, but carrying a dry duffel bag. Authorities wondered if Ambrozuk had sealed the duffel inside the trash bag and removed it when he got to shore.

The mystery of the crash and Ambrozuk's disappearance was featured twice on the television program America's Most Wanted.

Dupont said earlier he believed Ambrozuk might be in Texas. That was confirmed Monday when a woman called saying she believed Ambrozuk was living in Plano, Texas.

Dupont contacted police in Texas and they found him.

When he was arrested Ambrozuk, living under the alias Michael Lee Smith, acknowledged his identity and asked for a lawyer, Dupont said.

Montana will extradite him on the negligent homicide charge.

Ambrozuk has led a successful life, driving a Dodge Viper and living in an exclusive neighborhood, said Flathead County sheriff's Detective Pat Walsh.

He has also been an illegal immigrant since 1982, Walsh said.