Man accused of raping girl in Colville arrested in Arizona after more than 10 years on the run

COLVILLE, Wash. – A man has been arrested after being on the run for more than a decade on child rape allegations.

In June 2009, detectives with the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) received information that Robert Jennings Vandivier had impregnated a 14-year-old girl. The SCSO said the victim gave birth to the child later that year while detectives were waiting for DNA lab results.

In 2012, an arrest warrant was issued for Vandivier, but the SCSO said he had disappeared.

In June 2024, the SCSO Proactive Anti-Narcotics Enforcement (PANE) Task Force, the Stevens County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Border Patrol, and the U.S. Marshals Service developed a strategy to locate Vandivier.

On July 2, the United States Marshals Service located Vanfiver in Mesa, where he was arrested on an outstanding warrant for third-degree rape of a child and evading prosecution for 11 years and seven months.

“I cannot express enough how much I appreciate the efforts and successful location of Robert Vandivier by the U.S. Marshals. This case involves allegations of impregnation of a 14-year-old child, which was charged by this office in 2012… I look forward to the opportunity to finally seek justice for these crimes,” said District Attorney Ericka George.

FOX28 Spokane©