Not that anyone in this thread still cares, but, one of the fugitives has been captured:
CODY - An escaped killer who fled a medium-security Arizona prison is being held in the Park County Jail and is set to be arraigned Tuesday morning.
Tracy Allen Province, 42, was captured Monday morning in Meeteetse, Wyo., after police received multiple tips from Park County residents saying they had spotted the fugitive, said Lt. Dave Patterson of the Park County Sheriff's Office.
Province and John Charles McCluskey, 45, fled the Kingman, Ariz., prison on July 30. A third inmate, Daniel Renwick, 35, was arrested in Rifle, Colo., a day later after a brief car chase during which he fired a weapon at a pursuing police vehicle, authorities say.
On Sunday, Arizona authorities said the two men and an alleged accomplice, Casslyn Welch, 43, may have been in the Yellowstone National Park area of Montana and Wyoming, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Authorities now say Welch and McCluskey are no longer in Yellowstone - where more than 100 armed park rangers were patrolling the 3,400-square-mile park - but are in Montana. Authorities say they are both believed to have connections in that state.
Welch, a resident of Mesa, Ariz., is McCluskey's fiancee and cousin and turns 37 on Tuesday. Investigators describe them as armed and dangerous.
"They consider themselves as Bonnie and Clyde," said David Gonzales, the U.S. marshal for Arizona. "This is very, very serious business."
Patterson said personnel from his department worked with the U.S. Marshals Service "through the wee hours" Sunday night and Monday morning to follow up on tips and formulate a plan for capturing Province, whose escape had been widely publicized.
Deputy County Attorney Sam Krone said he would seek to have Province held without bail when he is arraigned on charges filed in Arizona related to his escape.
Krone said that Province can fight extradition to Arizona, but only under certain narrowly defined legal arguments focused on improper charges or mistaken identity. Krone said that most out-of-state defendants typically do not fight extradition.
Patterson said Province was picked up near the Oasis Motel in Meeteetse.
On Sunday, Province walked into Meeteetse Community Church. He was 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 hitch-hiker. 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, Wyoming, 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, said U.S. Marshal David Gonzales .
Local police received their first tip late Sunday afternoon, followed by many more, Patterson said.
Province was apprehended by U.S. marshals after he was seen walking through Meeteetse, which sits about 60 miles east of Yellowstone National Park.
He was carrying a hitchhiking sign with "Casper" written on it when he was arrested about 6:20 a.m., said Thomas Henman, a spokesman for the Marshals Service in Phoenix.
The man, who initially denied being Province, was also carrying a 9 mm handgun at the time, Henman said.
Henman said that, when Province was taken into custody on Monday, he said he was relieved to be caught.
Province spent Sunday night in Meeteetse, where he stayed at the Vision Quest Motel in room 27.
Cayenne Wagers is an employee of the motel who said she encountered the fugitive outside his second-floor room late Sunday night. She and a friend were walking their dogs when they struck up a conversation with the man.
Wagers said she was unaware he was the subject of a manhunt.
"I didn't even know about anyone escaping," the 18-year-old Wagers said.
She said she and her friend tried to end the talk several times, but Province kept initiating more conversation.
"I got up there and sensed something wasn't right," she said.
At least twice, as they tried to walk away, he blocked their path, she said, adding that it was not a threatening gesture.
Jailer Tod Larson declined to say whether Province was being held separately from the general population of about 67 inmates, but said that the facility was equipped to handle high-security prisoners.
Park County authorities would not comment on why Province was initially booked on Monday into the Hot Springs County jail in Thermopolis, Wyo., more than 20 miles farther from Meeteetse than the Park County jail.
They referred questions to the U.S. Marshals Service, which did not immediately return a call seeking additional information.
Authorities said Province, McCluskey and Renwick were able to flee the Arizona State Prison after Welch tossed wire cutters over a perimeter fence.
They later kidnapped two truck drivers at gunpoint and used the rig to get away. The drivers were left unharmed just off Interstate 40 in Flagstaff, Ariz., according to reports.
Gonzales said the fugitives are now suspected in the killings of a couple whose bodies were found Wednesday in New Mexico.
The skeletal remains of Linda and Gary Haas, both 61, were found Wednesday morning inside a burned camper near Santa Rose, N.M. The Oklahoma couple's pickup was discovered later that afternoon about 100 miles west of Albuquerque.
Henman said Arizona prison officials say the convicts belong to the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, but there was no concrete information to tie them to white supremacist groups outside prison, according to CNN.
Province was serving a life sentence for a murder and robbery, while McCluskey was doing a 15-year stint behind bars for attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault. Renwick was serving a 22-year sentence for second-degree murder, authorities say.
The Arizona Attorney General's Office on Monday charged two women, including McCluskey's mother, with helping the inmates after they escaped.
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."
Anyone with information on the fugitives is asked to call local police or the ASP Kingman Escapees Task Force in Arizona at 602-542-1212.
