Fugitive Honolulu sex offender Frank Lefrandt Jr. fled to Los Angeles last November, then was tracked to Mexico, El Salvador and finally to Guatemala, where he is believed to have died earlier this year while hiking up the side of a volcano, according to court papers.

Because Lefrandt's body has not been recovered, his elderly mother had to pay the $100,000 bail she posted through a bondsman on Lefrandt's behalf, and Lefrandt's wife and children can't collect his life insurance or Social Security benefits.

And the teenager who Lefrandt admitted molesting in 2007 is left to wonder if his attacker is really gone.

Lefrandt, 48, pleaded guilty in November 2008 to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old newspaper carrier.

He was free on bail while awaiting sentencing and failed to surrender to authorities Dec. 1.

Bail bondsman James Lindblad said that because Lefrandt's mother had guaranteed her son's bail bond, she and her husband had to borrow $60,000 against their home and withdraw $40,000 more from their retirement account to raise the forfeited bail money.

Lindblad last month paid the $100,000 to the court after unsuccessfully trying to convince Circuit Judge Steven Alm that Lefrandt is dead and that he had died at a time when the $100,000 hadn't been ordered forfeited.

Among the papers filed by Lindblad's lawyer, Keith Kiuchi, was a copy of an e-mail from Brent Naluai of the U.S. Marshals Service office here that said there is a "strong likelihood" that Lefrandt is dead.

Naluai said in the e-mail to Lindblad that the Marshals Service worked closely with a U.S. State Department representative in Guatemala in its efforts to locate Lefrandt.

"They have spoken to all individuals that had interacted with Mr. Lefrandt. Mr. Lefrandt was reported missing after not returning from a hike," Naluai said.

"Based on the location and local history of the area (where) he was reported missing, there is a strong likelihood that he fell victim of foul play," the e-mail said.

Lefrandt's wife and mother cooperated with authorities looking for Lefrandt and put them in touch with witnesses in Guatemala who had seen Lefrandt shortly before he disappeared, according to the court files.

One man, who found Lefrandt's cell phone three days after Lefrandt went on his hike, said searchers had tried but failed to find him in the mountains.

"The mountains are very treacherous and no one would go looking for him on their own, not even the police, because there are a lot of dead bodies and bandits there," the man reported.

Lefrandt had been a Mormon missionary in Guatemala when he was younger and made friends in the village of Momostenango when he arrived there in December, according to the court papers filed by Lindblad.

An American woman named Nancy who lived in the area told Lefrandt's mother "that everyone in the village liked Frank and received him with open arms. Nancy said that Frank seemed like a broken and lost man," Lindblad reported.

When he went on a hike in late January, Lefrandt didn't have money for a pass into the park he was entering so "he told the people at the trail head he would turn south and go up the mountains somewhere else," according to the legal papers.

"The people at the trail head warned (Lefrandt) ... several times that 10 miles down the road is where the bandits are and that the area was very dangerous. ... (Lefrandt) replied that he was an Eagle Scout and that he was not afraid," Lindblad's motion said.

Lefrandt hasn't been heard from since, the court was told.