How a tipster tracked a U.S. fugitive 'psychic' to Toronto after a 21-year search

Thomas Daigle · CBC News

· Posted: May 28, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

It was an net sleuth — claiming to person utilized facial designation exertion and societal media clues — who pointed authorities to the whereabouts of a longtime U.S. fugitive starring a treble beingness successful Ontario.

CBC News has pieced unneurotic caller details astir the anonymous extremity that led Toronto constabulary earlier this twelvemonth to apprehend Patrick Lutts Jr., much than 2 decades aft helium skipped a Florida tribunal proceeding connected manslaughter charges and vanished.

A CBC probe recently revealed Lutts, 51, had been openly surviving successful the metropolis for years, hosting a monthly barroom trivia nighttime and moving arsenic a self-styled psychic, each portion evading U.S. authorities. 

Court records amusement the Texas-born Lutts was charged successful March 1999 with DUI manslaughter successful transportation with an early-morning clang successful Orlando that killed 2 teens. He was scheduled to participate a plea successful October 2003 but disappeared, until his apprehension by the Toronto Police Service fugitive squad this past February.

Lutts is acceptable to look successful an Ontario tribunal connected Wednesday. He faces extradition to Florida and has not responded to the allegations since his arrest. It isn't wide however oregon erstwhile helium arrived successful Canada, and the borderline bureau doesn't person records of his entry. He has nary ineligible presumption successful the country, according to Ontario tribunal files.

"It's been a rollercoaster of emotions," said Jorge Leon, whose relative Nancy Lopez was killed successful the collision successful Orlando connected Christmas Day 1998. 

Investigators said Lutts had spent the erstwhile nighttime drinking and slammed his motortruck into the conveyance carrying Lopez, 19, and her 18-year-old fellow Darvin Javier DeJesus-Taboada. The mates was killed connected impact.

"You conscionable left," Leon said of Lutts's years connected the run. "You were a coward."

'I find fugitives and person recovered respective before'

In 2019, Leon said helium created a Facebook leafage dedicated to Lutts successful hopes of drafting attraction to the case. Then, successful April 2024, came the connection that changed everything.

"Hello," the anonymous enactment read. "I request to speech to you astir Patrick Lutts."

What followed was an avalanche of caller accusation — CBC has managed to corroborate overmuch of it — about the fugitive's whereabouts, the Toronto barroom wherever helium worked arsenic a quizmaster and the alias helium was utilizing online: Pat Lighthelp.

"I recovered him with facial recognition," the tipster wrote, portion sharing pictures from Lutts's Facebook profile. Leon said the idiosyncratic didn't uncover their sex oregon existent name, but said they lived successful the U.S. and had already reported the findings to a transgression extremity line. 

"I find fugitives and person recovered respective before," the tipster wrote successful the bid of messages reviewed by CBC. The idiosyncratic said they had started looking into Lutts aft seeing him featured successful an online forum for fans of the TV amusement America's Most Wanted.

"We're yet getting justice," Leon, the victim's cousin, said successful an interview. "And it's due to the fact that of this person."

A summary of Florida prosecutors' grounds successful the case, filed successful Ontario Superior Court arsenic portion of extradition proceedings, confirms investigators archetypal got upwind of Lutts's determination from an anonymous extremity successful November 2023. The tipster told Leon they had already reached retired to authorities that aforesaid month.

Toronto constabulary aboriginal tracked the fugitive to an flat gathering successful the city's Church and Wellesley area. 

Fugitive was progressive online

Until his apprehension successful February, Lutts offered clients narration proposal and beingness coaching online nether his Pat Lighthelp alias.

His illustration disappeared from the New Zealand-based "psychic reading" level LifeReader earlier this period aft CBC asked the institution astir its cognition of Lutts's past. 

LifeReader did not respond to requests for comment.

Online posts amusement Lutts besides hosted a monthly horror-themed trivia nighttime astatine a Toronto bar. 

"Congratulations to the winners and we look guardant to seeing each of you [in] 2025!" Lutts said successful an online station successful December.

While the tipster suggested they scoured societal media for clues, the Orange County Sheriff's Office successful Florida declined to sermon what investigative steps had been taken implicit the years to find Lutts. 

"There would person been a warrant issued, and immoderate instrumentality enforcement bureau would person been capable to find the warrant successful the system," a spokesperson said successful an email.

Kenneth Gray, a erstwhile FBI peculiar cause who present teaches transgression justness astatine Connecticut's University of New Haven, said it's communal for an anonymous extremity to beryllium important successful the hunt for a fugitive. Otherwise, helium said, suspects not featured connected a most-wanted database whitethorn stay connected the tally indefinitely.

"Unless you travel into interaction with instrumentality enforcement somehow, oregon effort to alert connected an craft oregon effort to transverse the border, it's imaginable to stay hidden from instrumentality enforcement somewhat successfully," Gray said.

Ryan Hittel, a lawyer representing Nancy Lopez's parent Nelida Cordero, said successful a connection that Cordero is "extremely grateful for the efforts of American and Canadian instrumentality enforcement — and for the assistance of the anonymous tipster — which person resulted successful the seizure of Patrick Lutts Jr."

This past February, Lopez's relative Jorge Leon wrote to the net sleuth to stock quality of Lutts's arrest. The connection was ne'er delivered. An automatic effect said the idiosyncratic had already closed their Facebook account.

Leon said helium lone wishes helium could convey the tipster.

"He oregon she would decidedly get a hug from me, my aunt [Nelida], the full family," helium said.

"You are an angel to us."