One Of Two Escaped Arizona Inmates Caught In Wyoming
Aug 9, 2010 1 Comment ›› Pat Dollard
One of two inmates who escaped from an Arizona prison was captured in Wyoming, authorities said Monday.
During a news conference, investigators said Tracy Province, 42, had been by arrested by U.S. Marshals and the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Department.
Province was armed, and was carrying a hitchhiking sign with “Casper” written on it, authorities said.
One inmate, John McCluskey, 45, who is believed to be traveling with an alleged accomplice, remains on the loose.
There were other developments through the weekend with the investigation, which began on July 30 when McCluskey, Province and Daniel Renwick, 36, broke out of a privately run prison near Kingman.
On Saturday, investigators announced that McCluskey, Province and Casslyn Welch, their alleged accomplice, were connected with a double murder in New Mexico. That announcement came hours after investigators arrested McCluskey’s mother, Claudia Washburn, 68, for her role in helping the escapees.
Authorities said on Sunday that McCluskey, Province and Welch were believed to be in Yellowstone National Park.
McCluskey, of Mesa, who was serving time for the attempted murder of a police officer, and Welch, 44, had parted ways with Province, a convicted murderer, Henman said. Province stabbed a Tucson laundry owner 51 times in 1993.
Renwick, 36, who was serving two 22-year sentences for two counts of murder committed in Pima County, was recaptured last Sunday in Rifle, Colo., after firing a weapon at a pursuing police vehicle.
Washburn, McCluskey’s mother, was arrested Saturday morning at the gas station she operates at Jake’s Corner, about 20 miles south of Payson. Investigators believe Washburn gave the convicts money and hid information from detectives. Washburn was being held in the Gila County Jail in Globe on a $250,000 bail.
Department of Corrections Director Chuck Ryan has said a preliminary investigation indicates that Welch parked in the desert near the prison sometime in the evening on July 30 and walked to a berm on its eastern end.
Investigators believe the three inmates left their dormitory-style housing through a door that apparently did not have a functioning alarm and were standing in an area used to house dogs, where they communicated with Welch that no corrections officers were around, Ryan said. Investigators believe Welch climbed over the berm and threw tools to the inmates. The prisoners climbed out of the small yard, which had no barbed wire, and used the tools to cut through two fences before crawling out.
Ryan said an alarm sounded at 9 p.m., indicating activity between the prison’s interior and exterior fences, but investigators do not know if staff members checked it out.
Prison-staff members notified DOC officials of the breakout after 11:30 p.m. Friday. After the three inmates broke out of prison, they became separated in the desert, said David Gonzales, U.S. Marshal in Arizona.
Renwick made his way to the car Welch drove to the area and fled north to Colorado. McCluskey, Renwick and Welch hijacked a truck in Kingman and forced the driver to take them to Flagstaff, Gonzales said.
Investigators believe a female acquaintance in Yavapai County helped the fugitives get from Flagstaff to Jake’s Corner.
Renwick has been providing U.S. marshal’s officials with information about the escape, Ryan said.
A $40,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the fugitives. Anyone with information is urged to call the ASP Kingman Escapees Task Force at 602-542-1212.
