Authorities: Sex offender tampered with GPS, found at EC motel

Jun. 24—EAU CLAIRE — A sex offender out of prison for just two weeks tampered with his GPS monitoring bracelet and absconded from his Durand residence, authorities said.

The man was apprehended several hours later at an Eau Claire motel, authorities say.

According to the Pepin County Sheriff's Office, Allen D. Owens, 53, was released from prison on June 7 and was living on Highway V in Durand.

Owens was convicted of a felony count of repeated sexual assault of the same child in 2013 in Pepin County.

In 1990, Owens was convicted in Missouri of sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse.

Owens is required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and is under active supervision by the state Department of Corrections.

When Owens was released from prison, he was required to wear a GPS location monitoring device so his whereabouts were known.

The Department of Corrections issued a warrant for Owens' arrest on Thursday after they received an alert that suggested Owens had tampered with his GPS ankle bracelet monitor. Owens had not been located since state officials received the alert.

Pepin County Sheriff Joel Wener said his office received information that Owens may be attempting to conceal his identity by dying his hair and goatee brown.

Owens' mode and direction of travel, or the clothing he was wearing, was not known.

On Thursday evening, Eau Claire County Sheriff's Lt. Dustin Walters said his deputies developed information that Owens may have checked into the Days Inn, 6319 Truax Lane, in the town of Union.

Deputies conducted surveillance of the motel and took Owens into custody at 10:45 p.m. on Thursday.

Owens was medically cleared at an Eau Claire hospital before being taken to the Eau Claire County Jail.

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