A former Fort Huachuca Army captain was arrested last Thursday after five years on the run.
According to a news release from the US Marshals Service, Christopher Wilkinson was accused of indecent exposure and abusive sexual contact before failing to appear at his court-martial hearing, resulting in a warrant being issued for his arrest.
The US Marshals Arizona WANTED Violent Offender Task Force received a request in February of 2021 for help from military personnel at Fort Huachuca, to apprehend Wilkinson.
Wilkinson, an Army Captain, was stations at Fort Huachuca and was accused to having inappropriate sexual content with a family member. He had failed to appear for the court-martial hearing in connection to child sexual abuse charges, the news release said.
He was convicted in absentia at trial and was sentenced to three years of confinement and dismissal from military ervice.
During the initial search, Wilkinson’s vehicle was located abandoned about 10
miles north of the search area on the side of the road in a remote location, the news release said.
Law enforcement used air assets, Police K9s, and personnel on horseback to locate Wilkinson but the search was unsuccessful, the news release said.
Deputy U.S. Marshals, Cochise County Sheriff's Detectives and Military Police began conducting interviews with Wilkinson's associates in Sierra Vista and For Huachuca.
They determined Wilkinson had fled Arizona. U.S. Marshals personnel worked with a partner office in Illinois to conduct a follow-up investigation in Bluffs, Ill., Wilkinson's hometown, but the case went cold.
In July 2025, additional efforts led the Marshals Service to believe Wilkinson was in an area of rural Illinois, not far from where he grew up, the news release said.
Information was developed that Wilkinson was likely hiding out at his mother's house in Bluffs.
Members of the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force-Springfield were conducting surveillance at Wilkinson's mother's home, when they located Wilkinson's blue 1963 Chevrolet pickup.
The truck had not been seen since Wilkinson fled Arizona, the news release said.
Law enforcement made contact at the residence and arrested Wilkinson, who was hiding upstairs.
Wilkinson was booked into the Morgan County Jail in Illinois, where he awaited being turned over to the U.S. Army.
