clipped from www2.hernandotoday.com

A detective searching for a sexual predator missing since Monday found his target dead by suicide Wednesday afternoon, authorities say.

Charles Heritage, 60, who goes by "Rick," took a bus to Pasco County upon his release from prison Monday for crimes he committed against small children in 2004. There he purchased "suspicious" items, authorities say.

Breedlove found Heritage had hung himself in the woods behind the house, said Sgt. Donna Black, sheriff's spokeswoman.

Prison records show Heritage served three years and five months of a five-year sentence for two counts of providing obscene material to children, two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and one count of lewd and lascivious exhibition.