Daughter duo teams up with 'America's Most Wanted' to help nab fugitive father
A suspected Florida child molester whose alleged victims included his own granddaughter has been captured days after his family teamed up with "America's Most Wanted" to raise awareness about the case.
Davie Albarran, 51, had been on the run since 2022 for sexual battery and lewd conduct toward two young children. When his daughters, Ana and Yaneiry Albarran, learned of the accusation, they kicked off a viral social media campaign that garnered more than 80 million views online – and the attention of the team at "America's Most Wanted."
"We’ll catch that dirtbag," host John Walsh vowed on the air last week. "I guarantee it."
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Davie Albarran, 51, has been wanted since 2022 on child molestation charges. His own daughters helped raise awareness about the case, and one of his alleged victims is his grandchild. ("America's Most Wanted"/FOX Nation)
It marks the first capture since Walsh's son, Callahan, joined him as the show's co-host and less than a week after the rebooted show's fourth episode.
"I'm not a professional baseball player, but it's better than hitting a grand slam in the World Series," Callahan Walsh told Fox News Digital. "This is why we do what we do, and the audience there, of FOX viewers of ‘America’s Most Wanted,' did it again, providing justice for a family that was so desperate for it."
After the show aired last Monday, tips began pouring in, he said.
"It's better than hitting a grand slam in the World Series."
— "America’s Most Wanted" co-host Callahan Walsh on the first suspect caught since he joined the show
"It's great to have the show revamped," he added. "It's an honor to be working with my father – huge shoes to fill."
Within six days, a K-9 unit from the Polk County Sheriff's Office arrested Albarran at a house on Country Haven Drive in Lakeland, Florida.
"It might've been Country Haven Drive, but it was no haven for him," Sheriff Grady Judd said after the arrest.
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From left, Ana and Yaneiry Albarran join "America's Most Wanted" hosts John and Callahan Walsh to discuss the hunt for Davie Albarran. Days after the episode aired, deputies in Polk County, Florida, received a flood of tips and tracked him down. ("America's Most Wanted"/FOX Nation)
In an interview with FOX 35 Orlando, he praised Albarran's daughters for their courage.
"He's a pedophile. He's a child molester. He's the worst of the worst, and I applaud his adult daughters for working with us to capture him," the sheriff said.
The father-son crime-fighting team joined Albarran's daughters and shared pictures of the suspect and several distinctive features, including multiple scars and crooked teeth.
Deputies arrested the fugitive in the same town where he was last spotted in 2023.
"I actually got a phone call from my sister," Yaneiry Albarann told AMW last week. "And she told me that my child had said that Davie had been sexually abusing her the last few months, and my heart dropped. I was devastated."
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Davie Albarran was captured with the help of tipsters and a K-9 unit in Florida over the weekend after being featured on "America's Most Wanted," Polk County Sheriff's Grady Judd said. (Polk County Sheriff's Office)
It was a life-changing betrayal.
"My dad was my best friend, and I couldn't believe that he did that," she said. "As a father you're supposed to protect your family, not harm them."
The daughters suspect their father may have had additional victims, based on the responses they received after going public with their story.
"I was flooded with DMs of other people that allegedly said he had also victimized them as children," Ana Albarran said. "My worst nightmare is that I don’t catch him in time and then he hurts someone else."
Davie Albarran has a number of distinctive features, including scars on his hand and forehead and crooked teeth. His daughter, Ana Albarran, warns he may have additional unreported victims. ("America's Most Wanted"/FOX Nation)
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim should contact their local law enforcement or police in Osceola, where Albarran's warrants were issued, Callahan Walsh told Fox News Digital.
"It was amazing to get the first one," he said of Albarran's arrest. "I knew it was just a matter of time. We were profiling folks that are catchable."
The Polk County Jail website lists Albarran as being held without bond. He lost about 40 pounds since he went on the run and grew a goatee and a mustache. He is expected to face justice in Osceola County and is also behind on child support payments in Orange County, according to authorities.
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The elder Walsh has decades of experience as both the father of a murdered child and as an iconic crimefighter whose TV show helped lead police to more than 1,200 arrests and 61 child rescues.
Watch the full episode on FOX Nation.
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