When McDonald County deputy sheriffs and Noel deputy marshals went to a Noel home on May 11 to locate a man wanted by police in Bentonville, Ark., they found much more than the man they were looking for.
Bentonville police asked for assistance locating Raymond Adair, 57, who was wanted on a warrant for two counts of sexual indecency with a child. He is accused of being the man who exposed himself to minors near a Bentonville school.
After running a partial plate number that Bentonville police provided, McDonald County deputy Gary Huff was able to link the tag number with a residence in Noel.
A search warrant was served at 210 Sulphur St., where they arrested Adair. While searching the home for any illegal items, they found 12 pounds of marijuana and $520,000 in cash, as well as three rifles.
Adair is a convicted felon, so was not legally able to possess the firearms.
He is being held in the McDonald County Jail awaiting extradition to Arkansas.
In Missouri, he faces additional charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, failure to register as a sex offender, and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute -- all felony offenses.
MCSO reported Adair was previously convicted of multiple counts of indecent exposure in Colorado. He was registered as a sex offender at an address in Longmont, Colo., four years ago, according to an online sex-offender registry.
The case began the afternoon of May 9 when Bentonville police received a report about a man in a white car who had asked two children walking home from school near Magnolia Drive "if they had ever seen male genitalia," a news release states. The children fled and reported the incident to their father.
Officers then received a second report of a man exposing himself to a child near LaSalle Street, which is close to another school. The child ran away, and the child's father saw the car drive away, according to police.
The car was described as a white four-door Toyota Camry, according to the news release. Images from a Bentonville School District bus camera system and law enforcement records were used to identify Adair and his car, according to the release.
Investigation continues with the assistance of Ozarks Drug Task Force, the FBI and DEA.
Sheriff Michael Hall confirmed that this was the biggest bust made in McDonald County to date. He noted that if Adair's case is picked up by federal agencies, the money will be split 80/20 with the federal government.
Otherwise, the half-million will be awarded to the Sheriff's Office.