The U.S. Marshals Service says one of the men who escaped Saturday from southeast Missouri’s Iron County jail has been captured in New Mexico. While the other two suspects remain at large, the Marshals have arrested some of their family members.
The Marshals say escapee Tracy Brown and his girlfriend were arrested late Wednesday night at a gas station in Carrizozo, New Mexico. The arrests were made by the U.S. Marshals Southwest Investigation Fugitive (SWIFT) team.
The Marshals in St. Louis learned earlier that Brown and his girlfriend had left Denver and were heading to New Mexico. The SWIFT team made the arrests, when Brown and his girlfriend pulled into the gas station. New Mexico State Police were involved in the arrests as well.
According to U.S. Marshals, after being arrested, Brown and his girlfriend told authorities that Brown and the other two escapees, Dwight Abernathie and Samuel Gillam, drove to Colorado together after escaping from the jail in Ironton. Brown told police that the three split up in Denver.
The Marshals confirm that information obtained from interviewing Brown and his girlfriend developed additional leads, leading to arrests of family members of Abernathie and Gillam. It’s unclear tonight who else was arrested and what federal or state charges they could be facing.
Brown, Abernathie and Gillam were jailed in Iron County on local charges. While Brown was jailed on a burglary charge, Gillam was jailed for kidnapping and Abernathie for sodomy and assault.
The U.S. Marshals Service in St. Louis has been in contact with Marshals in Colorado, regarding Gillam and Abernathie. A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to their arrests.
The Marshals have been leading the search for the three, and emphasize that Gillam and Abernathie should be considered dangerous.
U.S. Marshals say the three moved a block wall to escape. Marshals say the inmates escaped at about 4:30 on Saturday morning, and the Iron County Sheriff requested assistance from the Marshals at about 1 p.m. Saturday.
U.S. Marshals and Iron County Sheriff’s deputies had been searching in southeast Missouri, including the heavily-wooded Mark Twain National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service and numerous other agencies had been assisting in the search in southeast Missouri.
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