At about noon Thursday, Cape Coral police received a call that a man matching the description of Felipe Torrealba was seen on a LeeTran bus in the southwest Cape. The caller advised that the man got off of the bus in the area of Beach Parkway West and Chiquita Boulevard South, according to officials.

Police units responded to the area in an attempt to locate the man and began the ground search. Additional units, including the Lee County Sheriff’s Office aviation unit, U.S. Marshals task force and K-9 units, responded to assist.

As the search was underway, detectives were dispatched to LeeTran to determine if the bus had video and to view the video to attempt to make an identification. To better coordinate the search efforts and provide a rally-point in the field, CCPD dispatched its mobile command unit to the area of Southwest 16 Place and Beach Parkway West.

As a precaution, the Lee County School District and LCSO opted to utilize the Code Red/Code Yellow system and place schools in the area on lockdown.

As units conducted the search, detectives were able to view the video from the bus and determine that the man on the video was not Torrealba. Search efforts in that area were discontinued at that time, at about 2:50 p.m.

“The Cape Coral Police Department and its law enforcement partners at the county and federal level are making every effort to locate and apprehend Torrealba,” Sgt. Dana Costen, a CCPD spokesperson, said. “We will continue to utilize all aspects of law enforcement – patrol, detectives, K-9, aviation – in concert to cast a broad net in hopes of a quick and safe apprehension.”

“We will continue to partner with media outlets to make sure that information is flowing and utilize our social media program to make sure that as many people as possible know his face,” he said.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Torrealba, contact the Cape Coral Police Department at 574-3223. You can also submit an anonymous tip by going to: www.capecops.com/web-tips or by texting a tip to “CCPD plus your message” to CRIMES (274637). You can also call Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at (800) 780-TIPS.

Source: Cape Coral Police Department