Wanted Iowa sex offender nabbed on I-30

An Iowa sex offender with a new felony warrant for a sex offense was taken into custody Sunday morning in Clark County.

The manhunt for 59-year-old Randy Gene Watkins came to an end when an off-duty Arkadelphia police officer, traveling with his family on I-30 westbound, spotted a subject on the opposite side of the highway. APD Sgt. Kenny Taylor phoned 911 at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday, March 16, 2025, after observing the subject standing in the woods just south of the Gum Springs exit.

Watkins had been hoofing it since his car broke down on Red Hill Road in Arkadelphia on the morning of Wednesday, March 12. Law enforcement agencies in his home state of Iowa had issued a warrant for his arrest the day before. Video surveillance from nearby businesses showed the driver walking toward the interstate within 20 minutes of his local arrival.

Watkins’s SUV would sit abandoned for two days before local law enforcement located a vehicle with Iowa tags near Red Hill Road’s intersection with Pine Street. 

A public notice broadcast Friday described Watkins as a dangerous sexual predator known to camp in the woods for several days at a time.

When Taylor spotted Watkins on Sunday, his 911 call prompted the arrival of multiple law enforcement agencies. Watkins was taken into custody without incident.

Since ditching his vehicle five days ago, Watkins had apparently walked about a mile a day; he was captured five miles southwest of Arkadelphia. It is believed that Watkins was paralleling the interstate, walking westbound and camping at night.

Arkadelphia Police Chief Jason “Shorty” Jackson said that Watkins was in local custody awaiting extradition to Iowa. No local charges are expected.

Jackson thanked the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Arkansas State Police and the general public for assistance in Watkins’s capture.