Florida man who allegedly tried to purchase a baby for $100,000 dies whereas in custody

Families claim sex offender who allegedly tried to buy girls at store also approached their daughters

A Florida man is behind bars for allegedly offering to buy a woman’s child for $100,000. As two families tell FOX 35 News, this isn’t the first time he has done this.

A Florida man who was arrested after he allegedly offered to purchase a child for $100,000 has died while in custody, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

Hellmuth Kolb, 85, was arrested in August after he allegedly walked up to a woman at a grocery store in Port Orange, Florida, and offered to buy her child for $100,000, according to the arrest report. In 2018, he allegedly offered to purchase a woman’s child for $200,000.

Earlier this week, Kolb suffered a medical event and was taken to the hospital, and later died, according to VSO.

Related: Families claim sex offender who allegedly tried to buy girls at store also approached their daughters

Kolb, a registered sex offender, pleaded no contest to a false imprisonment charge in 2019, according to Florida’s online sex offender registry.

According to a 2018 FOX 35 News report, Kolb, who is reportedly from Austria, was arrested after he allegedly approached a woman and her eight-year-old daughter inside a Walmart store and offered $200,000 to buy her. He reportedly made a similar offer to another mother and daughter a month before that, according to that report.

Police said the most recent incident happened on Aug. 16, 2022, at a Winn-Dixie grocery store in Port Orange, which is northeast of Orlando, and north of New Smyrna Beach. Hellmuth Kolb “attempted to purchase a female minor for $100,000.00 from her parent,” according to a Facebook post.