EDMONDS, Wash. — The story started in the seaside community of Edmonds and ended on a sailboat near the Gulf of Mexico.
In January, an Edmonds mother called police, telling them her children, 11 and 13 years old, were raped and molested by her ex-boyfriend.
Det. Stacie Trykar, who has a family of her own, was immediately assigned to the case.
"This is what she was doing every day: She was asking how we find this guy. She was following up with the street crimes unit, constantly asking if they found him yet," said department spokesman Sgt. Josh McClure.
The man she was looking for was 34-year-old Trevor Zurstadt.
For months police searched the city, but simply couldn't find him.
When Zurstadt's trail went cold in western Washington, investigators were able to trace him to southwest Florida.
"If we know the suspect might have an electronic device we can write warrants or potentially follow those devices," McClure said, without giving specifics of the case.
Zurstadt was determined to be in the Fort Meyers, Florida area - more than 3,200 miles away.
"We definitely identified this person as a threat to the community and no matter what community he was in we wanted to get him off the street," McClure said.
Within 24 hours of pinpointing his position, U.S. Marshals and deputies with the Lee County Sheriff's Office arrested Zurstadt in the waters of Big Carlos Pass. They found him aboard a sailboat, reportedly preparing to leave the country. He was taken into custody without incident.
Investigators said it was determined, tenacious police work that led Zurstadt's capture.
"Just because you don't find something at one location you continue to dig, and you continue to work with your partners," McClure said. "You continue to try new avenues of lawful investigation, and in this case, it worked out."
It was an arrest five months in the making, but investigators said it was worth every minute.
"You can get numb to seeing these cases over and over in law enforcement," McClure said. "We'll never be able to change what happened or fix it, but we can do our part with the process to make sure it's investigated as thoroughly as possible. (The hope is) he never does this again."
Detectives are concerned Zurstadt may have molested other children within the family's circle. Anyone with information should contact Edmonds police.