Captured Fugitive Endeared Himself to Co-Workers
About two years ago, Colwel applied for a job at Emerald Shores Realty in the Costa Rican in Playa Flamingo and was hired as the office manager and quickly endeared himself to his co-workers.

He had retired from running a business in the United States, Colwell told his new colleagues. He had lost his wife to cancer, he said, and he thought life on the island would be a good way to get away from the memories.

"This was actually the guy next door, the father figure you would want if you didn't know the truth about him," said real estate agent Michael Crowell, who had worked with Colwell in Costa Rica for about a year and a half. "I'm just in shock, really."

Colwell, a former village official in Fontana, in Walworth County, Wisconsin, and convicted sex offender, was arrested late Wednesday at the real estate office, where, despite being wanted was using his real name. He also appeared in a staff photo, posing on the beach, on the realty company's Web site.

A tip about the site alerted U.S. marshals to Colwell's location in August. After working through bureaucratic red tape for several months, officials from the Walworth County district attorney's office, the U.S. attorney's office, the State Department and Interpol this week secured an international arrest warrant for Colwell. On Thursday afternoon, he was in custody in San José, awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.

Authorities say Colwell's story about his wife was a lie. His tale about his business was partially true - he ran a carpet-cleaning company in Williams Bay, but he left it after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

Colwell, who was appointed to the Fontana Village Board in 1997 and elected to a two-year term in 1998, was serving as a trustee when the allegations came to light. He resigned on Sept. 1, 1999, a few days after his arrest.

At a hearing in February 2000, Colwell admitted indecently touching a 6-year-old girl - a family friend - on two different occasions. As part of a plea agreement, a third count was dismissed. Despite a maximum possible penalty of 80 years in prison and tearful pleas from the victim's mother, Colwell was sentenced to a year in the Walworth County Jail and 30 years' probation.

"I was looking more for maximum security, maximum sentence," the girl's father said Thursday. "We basically felt it was a slap on the hand. What they did give him (showed that) obviously they didn't take it serious."

In 2003, Colwell had his probation transferred and he moved to Georgia, where his brother lived. When authorities there began investigating allegations that Colwell was trying to lure children to his home, he disappeared, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Paul Koenig.

Authorities now know Colwell went to Playa Flamingo, an upscale resort area on the Pacific Coast populated with wealthy American and European expatriates and retirees. There, he built a house in Surf Side Estates and was an active member of Beach Community Church, former co-worker Crowell said.

"He was a very upstanding citizen in the community," Crowell said. "He was one of the nice guys. Nobody that I know of ever had anything bad to say about him."

Walworth County District Attorney Phillip Koss said he hopes Colwell will now have his probation revoked and serve 30 years in custody.

The victim's family hopes so, too, her father said. That's the only way to be sure he won't hurt another child.

The father said the family was grateful to the Walworth County Sheriff's Department, the marshals service and everyone else who had a hand in Colwell's capture.

"We tried to have hope all the way through that they were going to find him," the victim's father said. "There couldn't be a better Christmas present."