A 69-year-old American man wanted for the abduction and sexual battery of a 7-year-old girl in Tampa more than 35 years ago has been arrested in the Philippines. Authorities say he was caught after forensic genealogy and preserved DNA cracked a case that had gone cold for decades.
For decades, the man’s identity remained unknown. The case eventually went cold—but investigators never stopped working it. The breakthrough came when the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office used genealogical research and preserved DNA evidence to identify Talmadge as the suspect. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed a DNA match linking him to the 1989 crime.
The 13th Judicial Circuit Court of Hillsborough County, Florida, issued a warrant for Talmadge's arrest on March 20, 2025, according to the Bureau of Immigration. He faces charges of sexual battery on a victim less than 12 years old by an adult, lewd and lascivious acts on a child, and kidnapping to commit a felony on a child.
Philippine immigration operatives from the Fugitive Search Unit carried out the arrest as part of the BI's ongoing "Shield Kids" campaign, which targets foreign sex offenders and fugitives living in the country. BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the operation was directed by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to protect children from external threats.
"We will continue to work closely with international counterparts to protect Filipino children and uphold justice," Viado said. "Foreign fugitives who commit crimes against children will find no refuge here."
Talmadge is currently being held at the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, pending deportation. He has not yet been returned to the United States, the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office told Fox 13.
NTD News has contacted the state attorney’s office for comment.