Quoted:
3 convicted killers escaped from a medium security privatized prison and hijacked a truck driver off the I-40

Am I the only one that thinks its a bad idea to put convicted killers in a private medium security prison where they are allowed to wear street clothes?

Quoted:
I saw that on the news tonight,WTF were they doing in med security?

'Extremely Dangerous' Prison Escapees Believed in Yellowstone
Investigators Intensifty Search After Prison Escapees Linked to Double-Murder

9 comments By LEE FERRAN
Aug. 9, 2010
PrintRSSFont Size:  Share:EmailTwitterFacebookMoreFarkTechnoratiGoogleLiveMy SpaceNewsvineRedditDeliciousMixxYahooIn a desperate race against time, investigators have narrowed the search for two "extremely violent" prison escapees to Yellowstone National Park today, after the men were linked to a double-murder in New Mexico.

Police search for Arizona fugitives and the accomplice who helped them escape."They have nothing to lose," U.S. Marshal David Gonzalez told "Good Morning America" today. "We consider them very, extremely dangerous, violent. And when you have individuals who feel trapped, corneded, God knows where this could lead to.

"We just hope for the best, that no one else is injured. And we're doing everything we can at the U.S. Marshal Service to bring them to justice."

Gonzalez said the Service has received "credible information and sightings" of the escapees in the Yellowstone area, along with one accomplice. The escapees are believed to be white supremacists and members of the Aryan Brotherhood.

Related
Prison Escapees Linked to Killings Believed to Be in YellowstoneWATCH: Intense Nationwide Manhunt for Escaped ConsInmate's Mom Arrested, Linked to JailbreakAuthorities say Tracy Province and John McCluskey escaped from a medium-security Arizona prison July 30 with the help of Casslyn Welch, who is McCluskey's cousin and fiancee. Province is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence and McCluskey was serving 15 years for attempted second-degree murder, according to the Associated Press.

Another inmate, Daniel Renwick, also escaped in the breakout but was apprehended the next day after a gunbattle erupted during a short car chase, according to the marshals.

Gonzalez said Province and McCluskey are suspects in the double-murder of a husband and wife who were burned in their trailer in New Mexico. Their charred remains were found last week. The couple's truck was found 120 miles away in Albuquerque with evidence connected to the escapees, police said.

McCluskey's mother is now under arrest for allegedly giving McCluskey and Welch clothing, money and a getaway car.

Posted: Monday, August 9, 2010 3:24 pm

By CAROLE CLOUDWALKER | 0 comments

Yellowstone Park rangers spent the weekend working with the U.S. Marshals Service to search for two dangerous male Arizona murder suspects and a female accomplice.

One of the men was arrested in Meeteetse on Monday morning, while a third escapee was captured earlier in Colorado.


"Our rangers are assisting U.S. Marshals, but they are always out there anyway," Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said.

He said several federal marshals were in the park this weekend working on the case.

Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis this weekend issued a notice to park employees, concession operators and others indicating that the individuals "are considered armed and extremely dangerous," and that anyone who spots them should not approach them or attempt to contact or detain them in any way," but should call 911 immediately.

Lewis said news reports Sunday indicated that two dangerous prison escapees and the alleged accomplice were thought to be in the Yellowstone Park area.

"Investigate leads indicated one fugitive may have been in Yellowstone on Saturday," Lewis noted in her bulletin.

"None of these individuals has actually been seen in Yellowstone Park," Lewis added.

The U.S. Marshals Service reported the fugitives as John Charles McCluskey, 45, Tracy Province, 42, and Daniel Renwick, 35, all of whom escaped from the Arizona State Prison at Kingman on July 30.

Casslyn Welch, 43, is believed to have assisted them in the escape.

According to The Associated Press, the three escapees later kidnapped two semi-truck drivers at gunpoint and used the big rig to get away, authorities said. The group left the drivers unharmed in the truck at a stop just off Interstate 40 in Flagstaff and then fled, The AP said.

The marshals reported that on Aug. 1, Renwick was arrested in Rifle, Colo. after a brief car chase reportedly involving him firing a weapon at a pursuing police vehicle.

In addition, on Sunday Claudia Washburn, 68, the mother of McCluskey, was arrested at her residence and place of employment at a general store, the marshals reported.

"It is alleged that Washburn provided financial and other types of support to aid in the flight of her son, Tracy Province, and Casslyn Welch.

"Washburn has been charged with conspiracy to commit escape, hindering prosecution and facilitation to commit escape," Thomas Henman of the U.S. Marshals' Service said in a press release.

"A search warrant was executed (and Washburn) is being held on $250,000 bond at the Gila County Jail in Globe, Ariz."

The fugitives were reported to be driving a 1997 gold Nissan Sentra sedan, with Arizona tag 620 PFV, though it was unknown if they are still using that vehicle.

Henman said recent information developed by his agency indicates the prison escapees and their accomplice may be in the Yellowstone Park area.

During the weekend, information was developed by law enforcement in New Mexico linking the escapees to the murders of an elderly couple at a campground in Santa Rosa, Ariz., Henman said.

"The couple's camper had been set on fire and was discovered in Santa Rosa, while their truck was found abandoned about 120 miles away in Albuquerque, N.M., and police in New Mexico are investigating the murders," the marshals reported.

The Associated Press reported that the badly burned skeletal remains of Linda and Gary Haas, both 61, and from Tecumseh, Okla., were found in a charred camper Wednesday morning on a remote ranch in eastern New Mexico.

Their pickup truck was found later 100 miles west in Albuquerque.

Henman added that Province had separated from John McCluskey and Cassyln Welch.

"The public is encouraged to call local police or the ASP Kingman Escapees Task Force in Arizona at (602) 542-1212 if the fugitives are seen," he said.

A reward has been offered for information leading to their capture, Henman said.

Nash said there are "no closures, no barricades" in the park, but staff is "being vigilant."

"The average visitor is not going to see anything different in the park," Nash added. "Everything is open."

He said Yellowstone routinely has about 100 rangers on duty.

The U.S. Marshals Service said authorities don't believe any of them have wilderness survival skills, so it's possible they could be staying in campgrounds and at truck stops.

An estimated 30,000 people will enter the park on Monday, Nash said. The park has 1,800 campsites and 2,150 hotel rooms that were mostly full last night.

"So that makes it a really big and busy place," Nash added.

Last week the park announced a record 957,000 people visited Yellowstone in July, putting it on track to meet or exceed last year's record of nearly 3.3 million visitors.

Province, McCluskey and Renwick escaped from a private, medium-security Arizona State Prison near Kingman on July 30 after authorities say the 44-year-old Welch threw wire cutters over the perimeter fence. Welch is reported to be McCluskey's fiancee and cousin.

Province was serving a life sentence for murder and robbery out of Pima County, Ariz.

McCluskey was serving a 15-year prison term for attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharge of a firearm out of Maricopa County, Ariz.

Renwick was serving a 22-year sentence for second-degree murder.

Arizona Prison Escapee Is Captured
By JIM ROBBINS
Published: August 9, 2010
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CloseLinkedinDiggMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink MAMMOTH, Wyo. — It was the biggest news for the tiny town of Meeteetse since the black-footed ferret, once thought to be extinct, showed up there back in 1981. On Monday, one of two Arizona prison escapees was captured after a resident spotted him at a church the previous day and notified the police.

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Mohave County Sheriff's Office, via Associated Press
Tracy Province was spotted at a church.
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The captured man, Tracy Province, 42, a convicted murderer, was arrested at 6:20 a.m. by federal marshals and members of the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Department, apparently as he was preparing to head south.

Mr. Province was hitchhiking with a sign that said “Casper,” a reference to Casper, Wyo., said Steve Blando, a spokesman for the marshals office. He was also carrying a pistol.

Mr. Province is being held in the Hot Springs County Jail in Thermopolis, Wyo., and a spokesman for the marshals office said he expressed relief at having been caught after 10 days on the run.

On July 30, three felons, Mr. Province; John C. McCluskey, 45; and Daniel Renwick, 35, escaped from the Arizona State Prison at Kingman. A woman, Casslyn Welch, 43, Mr. McCluskey’s fiancée and first cousin, is believed to have helped in the escape by throwing them a pair of wirecutters.

Mr. Renwick was arrested Aug. 1 in Rifle, Colo., after he fired shots at a pursuing police vehicle during a chase.

Law enforcement authorities believe the escapees are tied to last week’s slaying of an elderly couple at a campground in Santa Rosa, N.M. The couple’s camper was set ablaze, and their truck was found abandoned in Albuquerque.

Officials said Mr. Province and Mr. McCluskey, who was serving a 15-year sentence for attempted murder, split up in Yellowstone National Park. The search is still on for Mr. McCluskey and Ms. Welch, who are believed to have left Yellowstone and gone into Montana as heavy rain moves through the region.

Mr. Blando said the two “should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.” He said there was a $40,000 reward for information leading to their arrest.

The hunt has caught the attention of many people in the park. Maggie Slepian of Durham, N.H., a horse wrangler who works at Roosevelt Lodge, a tourist village, said, “Everybody’s talking about it; everybody’s parents are calling them on the pay phones.” There is no Internet or cellphone reception, she added, so rumors are rampant, and everyone has a different story.

The hunt coincided with the beginning of a policy that allows visitors to national parks to carry weapons in parks for the first time.

Ms. Slepian, who does not carry a gun, said she was not worried and did not think she would ever need one.

“The park is so big, I find it hard to be concerned,” she said. “What are the odds they’ll show up at our location?”

Park officials here say their law enforcement personnel, which number around 100, are on alert.

“But there’s no big manhunt, no law enforcement presence in the park,” said Al Nash, a Park Service spokesman. With more than 30,000 visitors daily, Mr. Nash said, “it’s just another busy day in Yellowstone.”

A version of this article appeared in print on August 10, 2010, on page A10 of the New York edition.
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Escaped killer caught in Wyo., says he's relieved
           Buzz up!33 votes ShareretweetEmailPrint AP – In this photo provided by the Hot Springs County Sheriff's Department, Convicted killer Tracy Province …
Slideshow:Arizona Prison Escapees  Play Video Video:Intense Nationwide Manhunt for Escaped Cons ABC News By MATT VOLZ and JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press Writers Matt Volz And Jonathan J. Cooper, Associated Press Writers – Tue Aug 10, 2:00 am ET
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – An escaped killer with a handgun and a hitchhiking sign expressed relief at his capture on Monday after 10 days on the run, while authorities searched to the north of this tourist-packed park for a second fugitive and his female accomplice, a self-styled "Bonnie and Clyde."

Tracy Province, 42, was caught as he walked in sleepy Meeteetse, Wyo., steps from a church where he sat in the pews a day earlier and sang "Your Grace Is Enough."

The search for inmate John McCluskey, 45, and Casslyn Welch, 44, focused for a time on sprawling Yellowstone National Park, which straddles Wyoming and Montana. But authorities now believe the two fled the park, with agents following leads in Montana.

"They consider themselves as Bonnie and Clyde," U.S. Marshal David Gonzales said at a news conference in Phoenix. "This is very, very serious business."

The U.S. Marshals Service said late Monday it has received tips from the area east of Montana's Glacier National Park.

"There has been a lot of activity in the area," said Fidencio Rivera, chief deputy U.S. marshal for the district of Arizona. "That is one of a few places we are looking at."

He did not elaborate.

Click image to see more photos of the escapees


AP
Province, McCluskey and Daniel Renwick escaped from a private, medium-security Arizona State Prison near Kingman on July 30 after authorities say Welch threw wire cutters over the perimeter fence. Welch is McCluskey's fiancee and cousin. Renwick, who turns 37 on Tuesday, was captured in Colorado.

Efforts to find the remaining three intensified after they were linked to a double homicide in New Mexico, with the case airing Saturday on "America's Most Wanted."

On Sunday, Province walked into Meeteetse Community Church, about 60 miles outside of Yellowstone, wearing blue jeans, a blue checkered flannel shirt, and a camouflage backpack slung over one shoulder, worshipper Jay Curtis said. Province looked like the many hitchhikers who pass through town.

"Just shook his hand and said `Welcome, welcome to our church,'" said Curtis, a member of the church band. "He just smiled and said: 'Thank you.'"

Province closed his eyes and sang along with the band and seemed particularly engrossed when the band played "Your Grace is Enough" by Chris Tomlin, Curtis said.

After the service, Province walked across the street and sat down on the curb with his backpack, looking like a hitchhiker. Curtis said the church pastor then paid Province to mow and trim the church lawn. Province got $40 and a jacket, authorities said.

The town came alive Sunday night with word drifting around that the stranger at the church was a fugitive, he said. "It definitely made my wife and I and our children very nervous to think that was a convicted murderer in our town," Curtis said.

"We're just not used to that," Curtis said. "Little bitty Meeteetse, Wyo., we just don't — they roll the sidewalks up around here at 8:30 at night."

A woman who had chatted briefly with Province on the steps of the church on Sunday called police after recognizing him later on television, Gonzales said.

When marshals and other law enforcement officers arrested him, he initially denied being the fugitive, Gonzales said. He was carrying a 9 mm handgun and the sign that said "Casper," a city about 160 miles to the southeast, authorities said.

Province was in the Park County jail and scheduled for an extradition hearing Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Gonzales said a $40,000 reward was set for McCluskey and Welch's capture.

"Rest assured, we are going to be on McCluskey like a cheap suit," Gonzales said. "We are not going to pull this thing down."

The Arizona Attorney General's Office on Monday charged two women, including McCluskey's mother, with helping the inmates after they escaped.

Province was serving a life sentence for murder and robbery out of Pima County, Ariz. McCluskey was serving a 15-year prison term for attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharge of a firearm out of Maricopa County, Ariz.

Forensic evidence linked the two inmates and Welch to the killings of an Oklahoma couple. New Mexico State Police spokesman Peter Olson declined to elaborate.

The badly burned skeletal remains of Linda and Gary Haas — both 61 and from Tecumseh, Okla. — were found in a charred camper Wednesday morning on a remote ranch in eastern New Mexico. Their pickup truck was found later 100 miles west in Albuquerque.

On Monday, a neighbor of the Haases, Ronald Allred, said they'd been doing a lot of traveling lately.

Allred said he worked with Gary Haas at the GM plant in Oklahoma City. Since the plant closed in 2006, the Haases have been traveling and enjoying their retirement, he said. Allred described the couple as "very nice and kind people."

Authorities believe the two inmates and Welch went to Wyoming, where Province separated from McCluskey and Welch on Wednesday morning at the southern entrance to Yellowstone.

By Monday, rangers at the park were given posters of the fugitives so they could check passing cars for them. But they weren't handing out the posters, nor were they advising entering motorists about the search. Officials said the 3,472-square-mile park was safe, as they welcomed an estimated 30,000 campers and tourists.

Wanted posters were put up at campground registration areas with pictures of the two fugitives warning: DO NOT APPROACH, attempt to contact or detain in any way.

Some Yellowstone campers weren't concerned about the search, including four men from Pittsburgh who were taking a vacation.

"We're just driving around, stopping and getting out of the car," Kevin Tonini said. "The odds of them being there aren't too good. It's a big park."

Others however were glad any potential danger had passed.

At the Mammoth Hot Springs campground, Khalid Ahmed and Bushra Malik of Calgary, Alberta, said they almost didn't come after hearing at their hotel on Sunday that the fugitives may have stayed at a campground in the park.

Ahmed said he and his wife had second thoughts momentarily, but decided to go ahead with their vacation.

They were happy to find the campground full, believing in safety in numbers, and even more so upon learning the search had shifted away from the park.

"It's a big relief," Ahmed said. "Hopefully we can sleep without fear."

___

Cooper reported from Phoenix. Associated Press Writers Bob Moen in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Thomas Peipert in Denver contributed to this report.

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Nope

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They were in a medium facility because AZ Dept. of Corrections allows them to reclassify down that low, even if on a life sentence for murder. All they have to do is play nice the first few years.



That private facility has state monitors on site who keep an eye out for security issues and policy violations. It's also audited by the state yearly and was gone over with a fine toothed comb before the state gave them the contact changing that unit to medium security. It's been there for 6 years and has always gotten a thumbs-up from DOC. In fact, on the department mandated yearly core competency tests, the Kingman facility on average has been one of the highest scoring facilities in the state. But the director has to point the finger somewhere and it wasn't gonna be at his own agency. If he had issues with the place or how it was run, maybe he shoulda spoke up a long time ago...

The Associated Press

Updated: 11:36 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010

Published: 10:48 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010

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CODY, Wyo. — Authorities say they're searching western Montana and southwestern Canada for an Arizona fugitive and his suspected accomplice.

U.S. Marshals say there have been reports of sightings Monday of the accomplice, Casslyn Welch, at a restaurant near Montana's Glacier National Park and in southwestern Canada.

There were multiple other tips from the Glacier area, but authorities aren't saying if they included sightings of the escaped convict, John McCluskey.

Marshals also say they're pursuing leads in Indiana and Pennsylvania, where the fugitives have family and connections. They promise more arrests of suspected accomplices.

Meanwhile, another prisoner who escaped with McCluskey waived his right to fight extradition to Arizona.

Tracy Province appeared in a Cody, Wyo., courtroom Tuesday, one day after he was captured.

Ariz. Fugitive and Fiancee Arrested at CampsiteUpdated: 9 minutes ago
.Print Text Size Jonathan J. Cooper


AP PHOENIX (Aug. 20) –– An unattended campfire and a suspicious forest ranger led to the arrest of two of the most wanted fugitives in the U.S., ending a three-week nationwide manhunt that drew hundreds of false sightings, authorities said.

John McCluskey fled July 30 with two other inmates from a private prison in northwest Arizona and evaded authorities in at least six states before being caught Thursday evening just 300 miles east of the prison.

Authorities arrested McCluskey, 45, and his alleged accomplice Casslyn Welch, 44, at a campsite in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in eastern Arizona.


Welch, who is McCluskey's fiancee and cousin, reached for a weapon but dropped it when she realized she was outgunned by a swarming SWAT team, said David Gonzales, U.S. marshal for Arizona.

Officers apprehended McCluskey without incident after finding him lying in a sleeping bag outside a tent. He told authorities he had a gun in his tent and would have shot them if he had been able to reach for it.

It was a peaceful close to a manhunt that authorities had said was likely to end in a bloody shootout between officers and desperate outlaws who fancied themselves as a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde.

"The nightmare that began July 30 is finally over," Gonzales said.

The fugitives' ruse began to crumble about 4 p.m. Thursday when a U.S. Forest Service ranger investigated what appeared to be an unattended campfire, Gonzales said. He found a silver Nissan Sentra backed suspiciously into the trees as if someone were trying to hide it.

The ranger had a brief conversation with McCluskey, who appeared nervous and fidgety. A SWAT team and surveillance unit surrounded the campsite and swarmed on the fugitives, Gonzales said.

McCluskey told officers he wishes he would have shot the forest ranger when he had the opportunity, authorities said.

McCluskey and Welch were being held in the Apache County Jail in St. Johns.

A photo released by authorities showed McCluskey wearing dirty blue jeans and no shirt with an "Arizona" tattoo across his chest.

"I hope the citizens of Arizona and the nation can rest easier this evening," said state Corrections Department Director Charles Ryan.

Authorities will spend Friday combing the campsite looking for any evidence that could link the fugitives to other crimes during their time on the lam.

Gonzales said investigators looked into 700 tips from nearly every state in a manhunt that had officers swarming into small towns from Montana to Arkansas. Authorities said the trail had gone cold since McCluskey and Welch were last seen Aug. 6 in Billings, Mont.

It's unclear how long they were in Arizona, but Gonzales said authorities suspected they might return to the state they know best.

Corrections officials have said that Welch helped McCluskey and fellow inmates Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick escape from the private prison near Kingman by cutting through a security fence.

Renwick was recaptured in Rifle, Colo., on Aug. 1, and Province was found in Meeteetse, Wyo., on Aug. 9.

Renwick and Province were serving time for murder. McCluskey was serving a 15-year prison term for attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharge of a firearm.

Province, McCluskey and Welch have been linked to the slayings of Greg and Linda Haas of Tecumseh, Okla., whose burned bodies were found in a travel trailer Aug. 4 on a remote ranch near Santa Rosa, N.M. They had been traveling to Colorado on an annual camping trip.

Officials said the stolen car found Thursday at the Arizona campsite had New Mexico license plates stolen around the time the Haases were killed.

"That's the best news we've had in 10 days. Everybody just broke down and cried for a little bit," Sheila Walker, one of the Haases' best friends, told The Associated Press late Thursday. "That was the one thing we wanted to hear."

The family was grateful that their prayers had been answered and that no one else was hurt during the hunt for the fugitive and his accomplice.

"That was one of our main fears, that they would get desperate and someone else would get hurt," Walker said. "We are just thrilled they are back behind bars."

The arrests came hours after officials discussed a report that outlined a series of embarrassing security breakdowns that allowed the escape.

The prison has a badly defective alarm system, a perimeter post was unstaffed, an outside dormitory door had been propped open with a rock and the alarms went off so often that prison personnel often just ignored them, the report said. Also, operational practices often led to a gap of 15 minutes or longer during shift changes along the perimeter fence, Ryan said.

Prison staff told a review team that the dormitory door was left open because of the heavy amount of foot traffic. That open door allowed the three inmates to reach a 10-foot chain-linked fence that hadn't been topped with razor wire. They scaled that fence and hid out for a time behind a building in an area that isn't visible to staff from the yard.

Using wire cutters, which Welch tossed into the prison yard shortly before the 9 p.m. shift change, the inmates cut a 30-by-22-inch hole and held the fence back with a dog leash.

Associated Press writers Walter Berry, Felicia Fonseca and Paul Davenport in Phoenix; and Tim Korte and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, N.M. contributed

Quoted:
The couple that was murdered was in New Mexico. So it appears they did leave the state.

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