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Fugitive found hiding under trap door in trailer

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man wanted for violating probation after an attempted rape conviction was found hiding under a trap door in the floor of a Tennessee trailer, U.S. Marshals said.

Billy Lee Walton Jr., 35, was convicted of attempted rape in Hardeman County in 2016, and was under a 12-year probation.


A warrant was issued for his arrest for probation violation after the Tennessee Highway Patrol charged him on June 13 with reckless driving, open container law, driving under the influence, driving on revoked/suspended license, and manufacturing/delivering/selling/possession of a controlled substance in Madison County.

Marshals found him Monday, in a cut-out space in the floor of a trailer in the Jackson Mobile Village on Highway 70 in Denmark, Tennessee. The space was accessed by a trap door hidden under a rug.

Billy Lee Walton, and the hiding space he was found in (photos U.S. Marshals Service)

“Someone created a pretty good hiding spot, but it wasn’t good enough to outsmart the U.S. Marshals Service,” U.S. Marshal Tyreece Miller said.

Walton was taken into custody without incident and is in the Madison County Jail.