Scores of law enforcement officials swarmed the Fourche Creek area of Little Rock throughout Monday in search of a rape suspect who slipped his handcuffs and evaded captors while en route to a morning court date.

As of Monday night, the search for former North Little Rock resident Anael Castro-Hernandez, which began at 8 a.m. and involved at least six local law enforcement agencies, yielded no results.

Pulaski County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Carl Minden said that his agency, as well as others, committed all the resources they could Monday in their search and that their efforts would continue again today.

"We're not going to stop looking until we find him," Minden said.

Castro-Hernandez, 30, has been in custody since his May 28, 2013, arrest, when North Little Rock investigators served the Honduran national with three warrants involving the rapes of three separate female victims, all of whom were under the age of 14.

Minden said that as of Monday, investigators had no reason to believe the suspect was armed, but given the nature of his three criminal charges, all of which could result in life sentences, he is considered dangerous.

According to deputies' reports, the van carrying Castro-Hernandez had reached the courthouse and was set to unload suspects on the north side of the courthouse when the suspect ran away.

A jail deputy followed in a foot chase toward the downtown River Market when the suspect turned south on Center Street for a block and then went back east on Second Street, where the deputy lost sight of him. Only the suspect's county jail-issued shirt was found.

In addition to the normal waits caused by Monday morning traffic, downtown was swarmed by deputies and investigators from the county as well as Little Rock officers.

Arkansas State Police officers were called in, as well as officers in North Little Rock, who watched frombridges over the Arkansas River, where county authorities sent out boats in case the suspect tried to swim to freedom.

About 10 a.m., authorities got a call from an Arch Street area resident who said a short, Hispanic male with dark, shoulder-length hair had been spotted near Interstate Park, nearly 3 miles from where he was last seen.

Officers from several agencies, as well as police dogs, went that way, and deputies spotted a man matching Castro-Hernandez's description near the train tracks.

When deputies tried to approach him, Minden said, the man slipped into the dense, wooded area near the Fourche River.

County, city and state police set up a wide perimeter that went from Arch Street to University Avenue and from West 65th Street back up to Roosevelt Road.

Arkansas Department of Correction search-dog teams came to help as well as the state police search helicopter. County authorities were joined by Union Pacific Railroad police at every railroad crossing on the line by 11 a.m.

Minden said the sheriff's office asked the railroad to shut down all train traffic in and out of the area, but he did not know how soon that happened.

Calls to Union Pacific officials were not returned Monday.

Deputies went door to door in some neighborhoods near Interstate Park while Little Rock officers were directed to keep an eye on vacant properties near the spot where Castro-Hernandez was last seen.

Despite the surge of officers and vehicles involved in the search, Little Rock police officials said it is possible Castro-Hernandez could still be somewhere in the wet thicket because the mix of dense timber and swamps is impassable in places.

Minden said that it's also possible that Castro-Hernandez hopped a train because he has a reported history of using freight trains to elude law enforcement.

The suspect was set to contest the findings of a recent mental health examination from the state hospital that found he was fit for trial in the rapes of three girls, ages, 13, 12 and 10, according to police reports.

Castro-Hernandez told hospital staff that he suffered from fits of anxiety, anger, depression and moments of memory loss, as well as hearing various voices in his head.

According to his own account, Castr0-Hernandez was born to a large family in Honduras and fled from home at the age of 8, growing up "on the road," and spent three years sleeping in the streets and traveling by foot at night until he reached the Mexico-U.S. border.

Castro-Hernandez does not have family in the United States but has crossed over the border at least four times, according to the report, and has been deported at least once.

Calls to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers regarding Castro-Hernandez's history were not returned, but Minden said the agency had placed a hold on him when he was booked in at the jail last year.

Minden said his agency will be executing warrants in an effort to dig up clues or information about the suspect's whereabouts.

Late Monday afternoon, investigators obtained an arrest warrant on Castro-Hernandez for felony fleeing.

Castro-Hernandez is about 5-foot-1 and 118 pounds; has brown eyes; and was last seen in dark, jail-issued pants and a white T-shirt.

Information for this story was provided by John Lynch of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Metro on 08/26/2014