COLUMBUS, Ohio - A member of city council was calling for better methods Tuesday to track registered sex offenders who quit reporting to authorities.

Council member Andrew Ginther told 10TV News he believes offenders hid when cities enact restrictions such as banning them from certain neighborhoods. His belief was based on findings from two states which found offenders stopped registering when new laws forced them out of residential areas.

There is an entire wall at the Franklin County Sheriff's Office plastered with pictures of missing sex offenders. Deputy Chief Steve Martin told 10TV News reporter Penny Moore most of them were wanted for one of two reasons.

"There's probably a combination of people who failed to register, and then people who didn't come back in when they were required to," explained Deputy Chief Martin.

10TV News tried searching for a few of them Tuesday. Moore found Thomas Reasoner was not living on West Town Street where he has been registered with authorities. Shane Estillette was not at a homeless shelter on East Main Street he listed as his home address.

Councilman Ginther said he worries laws restricting where such people are permitted to live will make the list of missing offenders grow.

"I think we ought to have a regional approach rather than passing the strict residence requirements city by city," said Ginther.

He added groups other than just neighbors should be notified when an offender moves into a neighborhood.

"Notification (should go) to teachers, religious leaders, youth service organizations so that they have the information and the training they need to protect kids," Ginther proposed.

But authorities said it is too soon to tell if local sex offenders are going underground.

"I don't think we have enough data to make a determination on that," Deputy Chief Martin said.

In Franklin County, Martin said the number of people who go unaccounted for usually remains about the same.

Michael Leady could not be found on Cypress Street. A neighbor told 10TV News he had not seen Leady in almost a year.

Deputy Chief Martin pointed out that for everyone who is not where they should be found, authorities have an arrest warrant on file.

Councilman Ginther said he wants law enforcement to take the lead in developing better sex offender tracking. And he planned to go to lawmakers for funding.

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