Past manhunts in Central Florida reveal that it can take some time for authorities to track down people

Length of searches have ranged from hours to months

As the manhunt for a felon suspected of killing an Orlando Police officer on Monday continues, a review of other high-profile Central Florida cases shows that it can take time for authorities to track down the people for whom they’re searching.

— After looking for three months for a serial killer who preyed on middle-aged men, undercover deputies found Aileen Wuornos at a Volusia County biker bar. She confessed and was executed in 2002.

— Three days after members of a teenage vampire cult bludgeoned a Eustis couple to death and fled in the family’s Ford Explorer, police found them at a Baton Rouge, La., hotel. Cult leader Rod Ferrell is now serving a life sentence in prison. Three others also were sent to prison.

—Orlando Police shut down Interstate 4 and several city streets during a 21⁄2 hour manhunt that ended when they captured Jason Rodriguez at his mother’s house on Curry Ford Road. He had gone on a shooting spree at a downtown office building, killing one person and wounding five others.

— Authorities put up billboards around Orlando and offered a $20,000 reward, hoping to recapture convicted killers Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, who were released from state prison by mistake because of forged paperwork filed at the Orange County Courthouse. They were arrested at a Panama City Beach motel six days after authorities discovered the error.

—Four days after she and her 2-year-old daughter disappeared, Rachel Fryer walked into Sanford Police headquarters and surrendered. She told police where she had buried her child — in a shallow grave in Putnam County. She is now serving a 30-year prison term. —After a frantic fiveday search by Altamonte Springs Police and child welfare authorities, an attorney negotiated the surrender of “Baby Penelope” Hogarth, and she and her mother flew back to Florida. The undernourished 7-month-old child was then turned over to social workers.

— A Maryland state trooper spotted a Mustang convertible that had been reported stolen from Oviedo as it headed up Interstate 95. He pulled it over and arrested the driver, Joshua Ortiz, 21, who had been on the run for two days after strangling his mother in their kitchen. He is currently serving a life term in prison.