Accused Rapist Vanishes After GPS Monitor Fails, Lands on Texas Most Wanted List

A Fugitive With a Troubling Paper Trail

James Lee Kirby, 49, from Sherman, Texas, has been wanted out of Bryan County, Oklahoma, since February 2, 2026, for failure to appear, stemming from prior charges of first-degree rape and incest. Now, the Texas Department of Public Safety has escalated the search dramatically, placing him on the state's elite and high-profile 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List. His case is a disturbing example of what can go wrong when a dangerous accused offender slips through the cracks of the justice system.

On November 5, 2024, Kirby was arrested in Grayson County for aggravated sexual assault. Several weeks later, he posted bond and was released from jail. That release set off a chain of events that authorities are still trying to resolve today. On June 2, 2026, another warrant was issued out of Grayson County, Texas, for his arrest for one count of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of sexual assault. The charges span two states and span years — a pattern that raises serious questions about how he remained free for so long.

GPS Monitor Goes Dark — and So Does Kirby

In early 2026, while Kirby was on pre-trial release for the first-degree rape and incest charges out of Oklahoma, his GPS monitoring device stopped operating right before the trial date, and he has been missing ever since. The timing — just before he was set to face a judge — is not lost on investigators. Whether the device malfunctioned or was deliberately disabled, the result is the same: a man facing some of the most serious charges in the criminal code simply vanished.

Electronic monitoring is often presented as a reliable middle ground between keeping accused individuals in custody and allowing them to remain in the community before trial. Kirby's case underscores the very real limitations of that system. When a device goes dark, law enforcement may not always respond quickly enough to prevent a fugitive from disappearing entirely.

Who Is James Lee Kirby?

Kirby is 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs between 250 and 300 pounds. He has ties to both Sherman, Texas, and Cartwright, Oklahoma. He has a tattoo of an animal skull with the words "SIZE MATTERS" on his upper right arm and a tattoo of an animal in scope crosshairs on his upper left arm, along with other tattoos on his lower right arm, lower left arm, right hand/thumb, and lower left leg.

DPS said Kirby is an avid hunter and may have access to firearms — a detail that authorities specifically flagged as a public safety concern. His large build and distinctive tattoos make him identifiable, but his familiarity with rural terrain on both sides of the Texas-Oklahoma border could make him difficult to track down without community assistance.

A Reward and a Call for Tips

Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $7,500 for information leading to his arrest. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous. Anyone with information about Kirby's whereabouts is urged to contact Texas Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-252-TIPS (8477), submitting a tip through the DPS website, or using the "Submit a Tip" feature on the Texas DPS Facebook page.

So far in 2026, DPS and other agencies have arrested 45 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders, and Criminal Illegal Immigrants, including 33 sex offenders and eight gang members — with $61,500 in rewards being paid for tips that yielded arrests. That track record shows the program works — and that ordinary citizens play a crucial role in bringing dangerous fugitives to justice. With Kirby still at large, investigators are counting on someone, somewhere, to recognize a very large man with very distinctive tattoos and make the call that closes this case.