Michigan State Troopers looking for missing sex offenders

BERRIEN COUNTY — There are about 47,000 sex offenders in Michigan; 470 are living in Berrien County. But some of them are missing. Convicted sex offenders are required to register with the state when they get out of prison. But not everyone provides the correct address of where they are living.
 
It is Trooper Jeff Miazga's job to find them.

Thursday he was doing random residence checks to make sure that the address offenders give to police are actually where they are living. It is a problem Miazga sees a lot.

Alfondo Gibbs is on the Michigan Sex Offender website but right now, police can't find him. There are warrants for his arrest.

"He hasn't fallen off the grid yet. He is still here. We will find him sooner or later," says Miazga.

Offenders are required to check in with police this month, before January 16. There are 57 sex offenders in Berrien County who are unaccounted for.

Thursday, one of the 57 offenders turned himself into police at the Bridgeman State Police Post. Now he'll be charged with a misdemeanor.

"We don't want to hold this against them. But we do want to remind them that we are watching them," says Miazga.

"I am just glad that the officer doing his job. Knowing what they (sex offenders) are doing, where they are working and to keep the families and community safe," says Don Gerschoffer who happens to live near a sex offender in Berrien County.

Miazga spends hundreds of hours verifying where offenders live, and trying to track them down. And if or when offenders fall off the grid: "You can run, but you can't hide. We'll find you," says Miazga.

To check out the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry click on this link: http://mipsor.state.mi.us/ Police hope the public will help find some of the missing sex offenders.