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Six people were arrested in Baxter County during a week-long undercover operation last month aimed at money scammers and men accused of soliciting children online, the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office said.
Three of the arrests involved cash pickups tied to scams. The other three involved men who investigators say arranged online to meet children for sex. All six are scheduled to appear in circuit court Monday.
The sheriff’s office ran the operation with the Mountain Home Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations and Trilogy Media Inc., a private group that records and publicizes scammers and works with police on investigations. The Carroll County and Sharp County sheriff’s offices assisted.
The first arrest came July 22. Investigators learned a courier was traveling from Hardy to Mountain Home to collect $45,000 in cash from an undercover officer posing as an elderly man. The handoff took place in a grocery store parking lot, and deputies stopped the courier’s vehicle on Highway 62 East.
Patti Lynn Dunlap, 73, of Hardy was arrested and charged with felony theft of property. She told investigators she was to keep $10,000 of the money for making the pickup, the sheriff’s office said. She is being held in lieu of a $50,000 cash bond.
Two more arrests followed July 23 under similar circumstances. A decoy handed over a package said to hold $45,000, and one man ran on foot to a waiting vehicle. The package was thrown from a window before deputies stopped the car nearby.
Jinbu Lin, 47, and Jiaming Yu, 34, both of Brooklyn, New York, were taken into custody. Yu was driving. Deputies reported finding more than $4,000 in cash between the two men and about two grams of methamphetamine in the vehicle.
Both were charged with felony theft of property, felony possession of a controlled substance and felony fleeing. Both are being held without bond because of immigration detainers filed through Homeland Security.
Also on July 23, Christopher Dyson, 44, of the Gassville area was arrested at a Mountain Home hotel. Investigators said Dyson contacted a decoy posing as a 14-year-old boy on an online platform, sent explicit photographs of himself and arranged to meet for sex. He was charged with internet stalking of a child, a felony, and posted a $25,000 bond.
Brady Dale Terry, 40, of rural Mountain Home was arrested July 24. Investigators said he contacted a decoy posing as a 14-year-old girl, said he wanted sexual contact and arranged a meeting. He faces the same felony charge and also posted a $25,000 bond.
Travis Lewis Dollins, 29, of Yellville was arrested later that day at the house investigators used in the operation. Officers said he also contacted a decoy posing as a 14-year-old girl and arranged to meet. He faces the same felony charge and remains in custody in lieu of a $25,000 bond.
Investigators knew other scam couriers were working in the Mountain Home area during the operation but could not arrange further meetings, the sheriff’s office said.
None of the six has been convicted. The charges are allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
