TOP STORY: ICE HSI investigator cracks cold case

Malcom McQuillan, wanted on 22 counts of indecent assault upon a child, was slated to appear in a United Kingdom courtroom in November 1987, but never showed. Shortly afterwards, he entered the United States on a temporary visa, only to evade police for nearly 20 years.

Mark Zivilik, an investigator with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations' (HSI) London Attaché Office, worked closely with London's Metropolitan Police Service to track him down. The case earned Zivilik a commendation from the Metropolitan Police Service for his professionalism and detective ability.

"It was a cold case, if you will. The Metropolitan Police knew his credit card was used in 1988 to rent a car in Mexico, and they knew from his ex-wife that he received a summons from a local police department in Texas, but that was all they had," said Zivilik.

Zivilik jumped on his computer. He determined that someone by the same name had been arrested in Arkansas 10 years after McQuillan went missing. The police report indicated that the gentleman used a stage name and was a traveling artist.

Zivilik, with assistance from agents in Jacksonville and Cleveland HSI offices, determined that McQuillan was an artist that frequented renaissance fairs across the United States. Agents arrested him on visa overstay charges while he was attending the Great Lake Medieval Fair in Rock Creek, Ohio.

ICE HSI detained McQuillan until he was removed and turned over to the Metropolitan Police Service in London on Feb. 2, 2010. He was found guilty at trial and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

"These investigations are like putting pieces of the puzzle together. Sometimes you're given 98 pieces of the puzzle. In this case, I had two pieces of the puzzle to work with," said Zivilik.

He also added, "This is one of eight or 10 cases in the past four years where, because of the great working relationships the ICE Attaché Office has developed with UK law enforcement, we've been able to locate fugitives and assist in removing them to face justice back in the UK."

ICE currently has 70 attaché offices in 48 countries across the globe. They assist with international investigations, fugitive removals, cultural repatriations and more. Learn more about ICE international affairs.