Escaped Inmates Elude Captors

The manhunt for two escaped prison inmates escalated Wednesday over word that they may have been spotted, while three correctional officers at the prison were suspended without pay pending the outcome of an investigation into their involvement in the escape.

Authorities on Wednesday evening called off the day's search for 46-year-old Mark Booher of New Castle, Ind., who was convicted of an Indianapolis murder in 1999, and Lance Battreal, 45, a convicted rapist from Rockport, Ind.  A third inmate, 48-year-old Charles Smith, was captured Monday by a security guard at Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's vacation home near Grand Beach.

Smith reportedly told prison officials that Booher and Battreal were nearby in the woods when he was nabbed.

A command post was set up at the Marathon gas station at Karwick Road and U.S. 20, in Long Beach, Ind., on Wednesday after it was believed that at least one of them had been located.

Police were telling neighbors in the area to go inside and lock their doors as others were seen racing to a sleepy sand dune area known as Moon Valley, in Long Beach.  Dogs aided in the search.

Police told neighbors there has been an unusual amount of "smash and grabs" from residents' cars, and they assume the escapees were looking for clothes and cash. 

The three inmates -- two convicted murderers and a convicted rapist -- escaped from the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City on Sunday.   It's believed the inmates escaped through a series of tunnels that service the 149-year-old prison, exiting onto 7th and Grant Streets in Michigan City via a manhole.  Two of the inmates had done maintenance work inside the tunnel system as part of a supervised work crew.

An internal prison investigation indicates that three correctional officers assigned to supervise the inmates as they worked may have been negligent.  A news release from the Indiana Department of Corrections states that constant supervision of inmates is required when they're working in the tunnels.  The correctional officers' names are not being released.

IDOC Commissioner Edwin Buss said that there is no information to indicate that the officers were aware of the escape plans or were accomplices to them.

If you know anything about the escape or the escapees, authorities want to hear from you.  Tips can be submitted by calling a toll-free, anonymous hotline -- 1-800-78CRIME -- or online at www.wetip.com.  If the information leads to the felons' capture, the tipsters could receive up to $6,000, up from $1,000 a day earlier.

Convictions on new charges for fleeing into Michigan to avoid prosecution for their escape could be piled atop the remainders of prison sentences awaiting them if they are recaptured - at least 30 more years for both men - as well as any other penalties for the escape, the Northwest Indiana Times reported.

 

 

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