Rhode Island fugitive arrested after 21 years on the run

Ronald Fischer, 70, was taken into custody Thursday off the coast of New Jersey after more than 20 years on the run, ending the hunt for one of Rhode Island’s longest-wanted fugitives. The former doctor fled during his 2005 rape trial and was wanted for first-degree sexual assault.

Investigators tracked Fischer to a 56-foot sailing vessel called The Silver Lining, which NBC 10 WJAR reported was registered under the name Richard Graydon, an alias Fischer had used. The boat was found offshore, far from the Rhode Island courtroom where Fischer disappeared more than two decades ago.

The U.S. Marshals Service said the arrest closed a decades-long search and that Fischer will now face charges including failing to appear for trial and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Fischer had been convicted in absentia, a sign of how completely he managed to stay out of reach while the case moved forward without him.

The capture also highlights how a fugitive can evade one jurisdiction by moving into another, then masking his trail with a different name and a mobile vessel. The case brought together the U.S. Marshals Service, Rhode Island State Police, FBI Boston and the U.S. Coast Guard, a multistate and maritime effort that finally ended with Fischer in custody on the water instead of on land. Providence Business News captured the mood in the line, “Time does not erase accountability.”