U.S. Marshals: ‘We will find her’

Finding violent offenders on the run is the sole job of the U.S. Marshal Service, the agency tasked with assisting in the search of a Blooming Prairie murder suspect.
Chris Clifford, assistant chief deputy with the U.S. Marshal Service in Minneapolis, confirmed his agency was requested by local authorities within the past 10 days to help find Lois Riess of Blooming Prairie. She is wanted as a suspect by the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office in the murder of her husband David Riess. 
“We’re not aiding in the murder investigation,” Clifford said. “Our purpose is to find people. That’s all we do,” he added.
The Marshal Service, Clifford said, only gets involved in violent crimes, or if the person involved has a violent background. “The local authorities have to come to us and requested our help,” he said. 
As for Lois Riess, Clifford said, “We’re very good at what we do. We will find her.”
Clifford said many different techniques might be utilized in finding a person. Some of them include tracking through social media and tips coming in from citizens. 
Like all cases taken on by the U.S. Marshal Service, a lead investigator has been assigned to the Riess case. That investigator, Clifford said, determines how many more people will be needed to assist with the case. 
In some cases, a fugitive task force can be assembled to help out in apprehending a suspect, according to Clifford.
Some cases can take years to resolve while others can end within hours, Clifford said. He noted most suspects are typically caught within a year. “If it goes over a year, it’s pretty rare,” he added.
One of the U.S. Marshal’s greatest success stories took place in 2015 when Victor Barnard, a fugitive American minister, was apprehended in Brazil. Barnard, who was wanted on 59 counts of sex assaults, had been featured on the Marshal’s 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list.
There are some wanted fugitives for drug cases dating back to the early 1970s, Clifford said. “We’ve never found them because we think they were killed in Mexico,” he said.
There are 23 deputy marshals in Minnesota. In addition, the service utilizes 15 officers from state and local agencies. They work with the marshals on a daily basis, Clifford said. 
In 2016, the Marshal Service arrested 580 people in Minnesota alone. “We’re pretty active for a metro agency,” Clifford said.
On a national level, there are 242 fugitives on average arrested every day by the Marshal Service. They include sex offenders, gang members, homicide suspects, federal fugitives and state and local fugitives. 
The service includes 94 districts, 218 sub-offices and three foreign field offices. 
Federal marshals have served the country since 1789 as the enforcement arm of the federal courts and has been responsible for protecting the federal judicial process.