NEW: U.S. Marshals have found and cleared the man seen at a Dodgers game who resembled one of their most wanted fugitives—but turned out not to be him. John Ruffo remains on the run. Join the hunt for him on 'Have You Seen This Man':
In 1998, a Brooklyn computer salesman was due to report to prison. He vanished instead. Now, join U.S. Marshals in their search in the new season of “Have You Seen This Man?”- available Wednesday.The U.S. Marshals have located and fingerprinted the Los Angeles Dodgers fan seen on camera during a televised 2016 home game who they said closely resembled a long-missing and most wanted fugitive. But they have determined he is not their man.
To be certain the man was not Ruffo, the Marshals conducted a swift background investigation and on Thursday traveled to his home to verify fingerprints. The read out proved it – they had the wrong guy.The discovery put an end to one of the most vexing aspects of the manhunt – a lead that for more than five years remained unresolved for the U.S. Marshals. It meant the investigators would have to turn their attention to other leads in the decades-long search for Ruffo.
The look-alike baseball fan from the L.A. suburbs had put his hands on some terrific seats, placing him just off center frame every time the television feed of the game focused on the batter. It was in that prime location that he caught the eye of John Ruffo’s cousin, Carmine Pascale, of New Hampshire.
“I'm watching and right behind home plate, they did a close up of the batter and there's Johnny. And I said,"Holy Christ, there he is," said Pascale, a cousin who last saw Ruffo after his arrest in 1998. “And I immediately called the Marshals. I froze the frame, kept it right in front of me.”ABC NEWSDeputy Pat Valdenor, an L.A.-based Marshall, was assigned to followed up on the initial tip. He said it’s rare to get a tip accompanied with video evidence.