SALISBURY — Police are looking for a man they say failed to notify of a change of address as a sex offender, five years after being placed on the most wanted list for the same offense.

Deputies began to investigate Shane Steven Hobart after a letter mailed to him at his registered address was returned as undeliverable, according to a spokesperson for the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. 

Deputies then went to the address that Hobart had reported when released from prison earlier in January and spoke with the woman living there, who told them that she had allowed Hobart to live there but that he had not returned for some time, the spokesperson said.

Deputies then obtained arrest warrants for Hobart for failure to notify of a change of address as a sex offender.

Hobart previously spent time on the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office most wanted list in 2019, after deputies were unable to locate him at his registered address. Hobart was arrested the same week he was placed on the list, according to previous Salisbury Post reporting. Hobart was convicted of obstructing justice later that year, according to the N.C. Department of Adult Corrections database.

Hobart was registered as a sex offender after being convicted of indecent liberties with a child in 2015.