OKEECHOBEE, FL– Officials in Florida are reporting that they are still searching for a high school coach who fled the area to avoid be arrested for having a sexual relationship with an underage student.
Omar Ayala, who was a coach at Okeechobee County High School has been on the run since April after a former Osceola County Deputy, Arturo Dominguez, helped him get away.
“He wanted to give his friend a heads up, so Ayala would know if the police were looking for him,” Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said.
Dominguez has since been fired and arrested, however, Ayala is still on the run.

Authorities say they began investigating Ayala after the victim’s mother contacted the police with evidence that her daughter and Ayala had been engaging in an inappropriate relationship.
The mother brought forward inappropriate text messages she found between Ayala and her daughter while transferring data from her daughter’s old phone to a new one.
Authorities say that the mother brought her concerns about Ayala to the Okeechobee School Board and the Sheriff’s Office in 2020 but there was no proof:
“It was definitely brought to everybody’s attention, a couple of years ago that there may be something going on. It wasn’t enough to verify,” the Sheriff revealed.
During the investigation, authorities also learned that Okeechobee County School coach and pastor Donny Raney, had also had an inappropriate relationship with the student.
The victim told authorities that after she and Ayala broke up, she began seeing other guys including Raney.
Raney has since been arrested and is facing charges.
Officials believe that Ayala may have fled the country.
If you have any information about his whereabouts, you are asked to please contact the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office at 863-763-3117.