TEXAS MANHUNT CONTINUES FOR DYER

Texas manhunt continues for Dyer
BY SCOTT RAINS
STAFF WRITER SRAINS@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM

The hunt for Charles Allan Dyer now includes two southern Texas state parks.
Investigators received a report of a man matching Dyer’s description knocking on doors Monday in the Wallis, Texas, area seeking a ride to Houston, according to information provided by Stephens County Sheriff Wayne McKinney. Investigators are searching the area near Texas 36 along railroad tracks, which stretch all the way to Rosenberg, with the search party fanning out to cover more ground. The area is near Brazos Bend State Park.
Federal investigators were first led to heavily wooded areas near Houston on Saturday evening after the reported sighting of the fugitive. The Sealy News reported that searches were initiated in San Felipe, east of Sealy, with the focus being on the Stephen F. Austin State Park. Campers were evacuated from campgrounds as SWAT and FBI teams searched the heavily wooded park area. The park area remained closed through Sunday.
By Sunday the search became focused in and around Sealy to its west. The FBI issued a statement that information led investigators to the Sealy area, but did not elaborate further.
Dyer, 31, has been missing since Aug. 15 when he failed to appear in Stephens County District Court for his second trial on a charge of child sexual abuse and concealing stolen property charges; a mistrial was declared during the first trial in April. A federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution has since been issued for Dyer.
Dyer has claimed that the assault charge is part of a conspiracy against him. Deborah Swan, a woman whom law enforcement earlier said might with him, believes Dyer.
Law enforcement and Swan have confirmed that she is the 39-year-old woman who owns a 2000 silver GMC Yukon identified in a “be on the lookout” ( BOLO) message given to law enforce-ment last week.
“I do not know why she would have been removed from the BOLO,” District Attorney Jason Hicks said Monday.

Woman calls newspaper

Swan contacted The Lawton Constitution Sunday evening while, she said, she was returning home — alone — from Florida to Texas.
Swan said she should be removed from the BOLO and said FBI and other law enforcement agents rousted her Thursday morning while on vacation in Destin, Fla. En route back to her home in Spring, Texas, which is about 30 miles north of Houston, Swan said law enforcement should know by now that Dyer is not with her.
“They can follow me all they want,” Swan said. “They’re not going to find Charles Dyer here.”
Attempts to contact Dyer have been unsuccessful, Swan said.
Swan said she first learned of Dyer via his online postings — Dyer’s You Tube channel offered videos that linked him to the American Militia and Patriot movement. Swan said he gained a reputation for his speeches given before Tea Party and Oath Taker audiences.
“He’s kind of the poster boy for the militia world,” Swan said. “Well, he used to be.”
Dyer is an independent affiliate of the militia network, or a “lone wolf,” Swan said, and he trained with her group, Texas Militia. She said she became a supporter after getting to know Dyer and learning the evidence against him. She has distributed photographs of the DNA evidence in the assault case online and has faxed pleas to re-evaluate the case to Gov. Mary Fallin, McKinney and Hicks.
“I knew it was a risk supporting him publicly, but this is about being truthful,” Swan said. “I completely believe this guy; he’s totally innocent.”
“But, I don’t know why they pulled me into all this,” she said.
Swan agrees with Dyer’s allegations that he is being set up. She thinks he is being pursued vigorously because he wouldn’t work among the militia community as a law enforcement informant. The definition of a domestic terrorist now includes a larger portion of the militia network, Swan said, including herself, and she believes she could be targeted next.
“I think he spoke just a little too loud,” Swan said. “Everything this man speaks of, I feel the same way.”
Swan said she believes that Dyer is being used as an example “to make us look like we’re nuts.” She and her militia group have been included in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of domestic terrorists — “That means you’ve been heard,” she said.
With the Sept. 11 anniversary nearing, Swan believes Dyer is also being set up. Known for his skull face half-mask worn in many videos, Dyer has given “the machine” a perfect foil, Swan said.
“What a beautiful setup; what a great strawman they get to set up,” Swan said. “I believe this guy is going to be blamed for something big.”