Marcellus Norman Jacob remains at large.
The Correctional Service of Canada issued a nationwide warrant on Sunday after the convicted “sadistic” rapist, who committed crimes in Whitehorse, failed to return to his Vancouver-area halfway house.
On Tuesday morning, roughly 48 hours later, Whitehorse RCMP confirmed the warrant existed and issued a public advisory after receiving numerous phone calls about Jacob’s whereabouts.
He is at a high-risk to reoffend violently and a moderate- to high-risk to reoffend sexually.
Despite Jacob’s requests to return to the territory for rehabilitation, Whitehorse RCMP has no new information indicating he is heading north.
“To date, there are no indications that Jacob plans to return to the Yukon,” said Whitehorse RCMP in a release.
“However, police are issuing this notice as a precautionary measure due to Jacob’s past ties to the territory.”
When he was 21, he broke into a Whitehorse woman’s home through a kitchen window and, over more than six hours, repeatedly raped, tortured and assaulted her in a “brutal and sadistic fashion,” according to a National Parole Board report.
Jacob was serving the remainder of a seven-year sentence for break-and-enter and sexual assault with a weapon when he disappeared.
“We don’t know where he is; he was new to the Vancouver area,” said Const. Tim Fanning, Vancouver city police spokesperson.
“The police are very concerned because of the violent nature of his attacks, the fact that they were stranger attacks.
“We’re very concerned that he’s not abiding by his parole conditions.”
“Alcohol and drugs have been significant factors to his offending and it is likely Jacob has returned to substance abuse at this time,” states a report from the Vancouver police high-risk offender unit.
Jacob originally asked to be housed in a Yukon halfway house, but was denied entry to the only residence fit to accommodate him, the Adult Resource Centre.
The centre decided it wasn’t in the community’s best interest to have Jacob return to Whitehorse, states an August 23 letter from Salvation Army captain Robert Sessford.
So Jacob was subsequently housed at an undisclosed location in the Vancouver area.
Jacob is a 26-year-old First Nations male with brown eyes and short black hair.
He is five-feet-four-inches tall with a medium build and weighs nearly 77 kilograms.
In the past, Jacob has been sexually violent toward both adult and teenaged females and has a long history of violent and property-related offences.
Anyone who sees Jacob or has information on his whereabouts is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.