Wanted Sex Offender Captured After Months on the Run — Found Hiding in Wall of Mother’s Kentucky Home

Graves County, KY — After an extensive months-long manhunt, authorities captured a wanted sex offender on Monday morning, discovering him hidden behind a trap door inside his mother’s home.

John “Johnny” E. West, 43, was arrested after law enforcement officers located him concealed within the interior wall of a residence on U.S. Highway 45 South near Pryorsburg, according to the Graves County Sheriff’s Office.

The search for West began after he failed to appear for a court trial in Graves County in 2024, leading to a warrant for bail jumping and violating sex offender registration requirements. In addition, West’s parole was revoked in Tennessee, where he had previously been convicted of evading arrest and aggravated assault. The revocation prompted another warrant for his arrest.

Authorities said West was known to frequent his mother’s home, and multiple attempts had been made over the past few months to locate him there. However, each time deputies arrived, West’s 78-year-old mother, Carlien E. West, insisted he was not in the residence and claimed to have no knowledge of his whereabouts.

Acting on new information, deputies from Graves and McCracken Counties, along with U.S. Marshals, returned to the home around 10 a.m. on April 14. After another denial from West’s mother, investigators uncovered a trap door in a closet beneath the house, and another hidden behind a mirror in a bedroom. That second trap door led to a narrow crawlspace inside the wall, where West was found hiding.

“It became clear that West had been concealed in these hidden spaces during previous searches,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

West was taken into custody without incident and transported to a detention center outside the county. He faces multiple charges in Kentucky and Tennessee, with additional charges pending in federal court through the U.S. Marshals Service.

Carlien West was cited for harboring a non-compliant sex offender and released with a pending court date. Authorities also believe another individual may have assisted West in avoiding capture. The investigation remains ongoing.