With some well-coordinated help from local authorities, Pennsylvania police and "America's Most Wanted" got their man Monday. Actually, they got two men--one in Effingham County and one in Pennsylvania.

More than three years after 21-year-old Jason McMann of Lock Haven, Pa., was kidnapped and murdered, police arrested Fabian Desmond Smart, 24, of Clyo, and Willie Marvin "Diggy" Williams, 24, of Philadelphia. Police expect to make at least two more arrests.

McMann's body was found April 8, 1999, in a wooded area not far from Lock Haven, a small college town. He had disappeared Feb. 11, and witnesses said he was last seen fighting with Fabian Desmond Smart, an Effingham County native enrolled at Lock Haven University.

After the fight, investigators say Smart and some of his friends put McMann, who was unconscious, into the trunk of Smart's car. They drove to the wooded area, where Smart allegedly struck the helpless man several times in the head with a pistol. Smart then dragged McMann into a ditch and left him there, reports say, and he died there of brain trauma and hypothermia.

Rincon Police Detectives Martin Runge and Jimmy McDuffie, along with Effingham Deputy Liz Waters, US Marshals Keith Lank, Tommy Corbin and Ted Reines, Lock Haven, Pa., Police Sergeant Charles Shoemaker and Pennsylvania State Trooper David Rausher were waiting to arrest Smart when he got off work Monday. Also there was Joe Matthews, a retired Miami policeman who investigated the McMann murder for "America's Most Wanted."

Arrested without incident, Smart was taken to jail. He waived extradition and was taken to Pennsylvania, where he was arraigned Tuesday night.

Rincon Police have been assisting Pennsylvania police with their investigation since late in 1999, when they were asked to verify Smart's address. At the time, Smart was living in Rincon, but later moved to his mother's house in Clyo.

"There were no warrants at this time," Runge explained. "It was a cold case. They had no overall suspects at the time, but they wanted to do interviews with some people that were involved the night the victim disappeared."

When AMW decided to get into working on cold cases in an effort to help solve them, Joe Matthews got involved. The television show broadcast the story twice, hoping to reel in witnesses and clues, but for a long time, no clear suspects were identified.

"What Joe wanted to do was just talk to Fabian," Runge said. "He was not wanted or anything."

Runge also spoke with Shoemaker at the City of Lock Haven Police Department. "They asked if we knew where (Smart) was. We maintained general knowledge of where was and what he was doing--because again, there were no warrants."

When Runge went to the home of Smart's mother to explain that all Matthews wanted to do was talk to Smart, Runge found her uncooperative. He did not push the issue, but called Matthews and told him what he knew.

Some time later, Pennsylvania police asked Runge again to verify Smart's location and said they hoped to locate Smart's car, as well. "I was able to tell them that Fabian was down here." Late last year, Rausher and Shoemaker came to Rincon, hoping to interview Smart. "America's Most Wanted" came, too.

"'America's Most Wanted' was able to locate the car in South Carolina," Runge said. "We saw Fabian and he did not wish to speak to anyone."

Since there were still no warrants, investigators left without talking to Smart. But they had the car. While Rincon police kept tabs on Smart, Rausher and Shoemaker returned to Pennsylvania, and Matthews continued his own investigation.

Part of the delay in the investigation was caused by the original pathology report, which erred in determining the cause of death. With statements by Smart's friends, some of whom witnessed the killing, and other evidence, a reexamination of the pathological led to the final assessment: Jason McMann died of trauma to the head. It was about 29 degrees in Lock Haven when McMann was dumped into a snowy ditch. McMann may still have been alive when Smart drove away that night, since the pathologist concluded hypothermia was a contributing factor in McMann's death.

Armed with all of the evidence, investigators finally got a warrant last Friday for the arrest of Smart and Williams.

Rausher called Runge and told him they would be in Rincon Monday, with the warrant. Runge called US Marshall Keith Lank. Since Marshals have jurisdiction anywhere in the country, and Smart lived in Effingham County, letting Lank serve the warrant precluded any jurisdictional problem.

"Basically, I turned it over to him," Runge said. "I found out he (Smart) was working at a lawn care business. We set up surveillance on the lawn care facility."

Smart offered no resistance when he was arrested. Police spoke with his mother, who had come to pick him up from work, and she left as soon as her son was in custody.

The investigation "took a lot of work," Runge said. "It took three years and a lot of work. Joe Matthews spent a lot of time on this. I think (Lock Haven's) District Attorney is very confident about the case. The people seen on 'America's Most Wanted' are already wanted," Runge said. "This was the first case that they were actually able to investigate and actually solve."

The surveillance and arrest had to be choreographed among agencies in two states in less than three days, but everything went smoothly, Det. McDuffie said. "It's teamwork and everybody working together that made it successful," he said.

"The other man, Willie Williams, was taken down in Philadelphia that same day, Monday, about two o'clock in the morning," Runge said.

He then called Tony Mays, Effingham District Attorney, and the diverse agencies coordinated the steps needed to send Smart back to Pennsylvania for arraignment and trial.