Notably Long-Running Prison Escapes / Escapees

[EnolaGaia]

I couldn't find a thematically-appropriate thread for a recent news item, so I decided to start one.

The topic is prison escapes which the escapee managed to parlay into a notably long second career as a fugitive from justice.

For starters, here's the Guinness record ...

The longest recorded escape by a recaptured prisoner was that of Leonard T. Fristoe, 77, who escaped from the Nevada State Prison, Carson City, Nevada, USA on December 15, 1923. Leonard was turned in by his son on November 15, 1969 at Compton, California. By then Leonard had had nearly 46 years of freedom under the name of Claude R. Willis. His crime was killing two sheriff's deputies in 1920.

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-prison-escape/

 

[EnolaGaia]

As of 4 years ago (January 2016) this guy was reputed to hold the record for the longest-running prison escape (assuming he was still alive).

World's most successful prison fugitive has been on the run for 60 years

John Patrick Hannan - who used knotted bedsheets to escape over walls of Verne Prison in Dorset in 1955 - notches up six decades at large.

The world's most successful fugitive, who climbed over the walls of a Dorset prison using knotted bedsheets, has now been on the run for 60 years.

John Patrick Hannan holds the record for the longest escape from custody after he escaped from Verne Prison, in Portland, in December 1955.

He was 22 at the time of his breakout and has now notched up six decades at large, despite repeated police appeals.

Although he is technically still a wanted man, Dorset Police gave up actively searching for Hannan almost 20 years ago after its last high-profile appeal yielded no results.

Although it has not been confirmed that he is still alive, Hannan would now be aged 81 and is believed to be living in his home country of Ireland.

His time as a fugitive easily eclipses some of Britain's most notorious prisoners' efforts, such as the late train robber Ronnie Biggs who spent 32 years on the run before giving himself up.

The previous world record for the longest prison escape, of 45 years and 11 months, was held by Leonard Frisco from Nevada. However, this was broken by Hannan in 2001. ...

SOURCE: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uk...on-run-from-Verne-Prison-Dorset-60-years.html

NOTE: I suppose the Guinness record still lies with Fristoe, because the duration of his fugitive status is known (i.e., it had an end). Hannan can't reasonably be considered to have surpassed Fristoe until and unless his (Hannan's) recapture or date of death is confirmed.

 

[EnolaGaia]

According to the Wikipedia listing of fugitives who disappeared (whether or not they were eventually found), here's one who's known to have evaded recapture for circa 56 years.

Frank Freshwaters

Freshwaters is an American criminal and former fugitive who was arrested in 1957 for the death of Eugene Flynt, whom he struck and killed while speeding. He had been on the run for 56 years after he escaped from an honor farm in 1959. In the intervening years, Freshwaters lived under an assumed name and sought work as a truck driver. He was extradited back to Ohio, and served at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. According to Gallop, "more than 2,000 people from half a dozen states" wrote in to the parole board to support him. On 25 February 2016, it was voted to release Freshwaters after his attorney argued he had caused no harm in his years evading officials. He was placed on parole with five years supervision. He was released on 16 June 2016 and is no longer wanted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fugitives_from_justice_who_disappeared

 

[EnolaGaia]

Here's the most recent such story circumscribing a period as a fugitive ...

Escaped South Carolina convict recaptured after 40 years on the run

A prison convict who walked away from a South Carolina work crew in 1979 has been apprehended and is back in custody after 40 years on the run, state corrections officials say.

Jose Chico Romero, now 64, was serving an 18-year sentence for armed robbery on Dec. 13, 1979, when he escaped from custody. He was finally apprehended Wednesday in Delaware ...

Officials said Romero was finally caught after a chance encounter with police in Dover, Del., on Dec. 28. Investigating a loitering complaint, authorities discovered a man using a fake ID, and after running his fingerprints identified him as a the long-escaped convict.

Corrections officials said Romero was being held in Delaware but will be returned to South Carolina and be required to serve the remainder of his original sentence -- about seven years -- plus any additional time added for an escape conviction.

SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/202...fter-40-years-on-the-run/2511578054120/?ts_=4

 

[GNC]

The man known as the Galician Rambo is on the loose again:
News story

He keeps escaping from prison (he's a murderer) and because he has expert survival skills, he is believed to be living in a Spanish forest, which the local village is not happy about. There's a big manhunt for him, but he seems to have vanished.

 

[hunck]

Italian mafia boss caught after Google Maps sighting in Spain​

An Italian mafia boss who has been on the run for decades has been arrested after he was spotted on Google Maps.

Gioacchino Gammino, 61, was found in Galapagar, Spain, where he was living under the name Manuel.

A Google Street View shot showing a man resembling Gammino standing in front of a grocery shop was key to tracking the fugitive, investigators say.

Gammino escaped a Rome prison in 2002 and was sentenced to life in jail the following year for murder. He was a member of a Sicilian mafia group known as Stidda and was one of Italy's most wanted gangsters.

His identity was confirmed when police found a Facebook page of a now-closed restaurant, Cocina de Manu, which was located nearby. It had posted photos of Gammino wearing chef's clothes and he was identified by a scar on his chin.

After his arrest, he reportedly told police: "How did you find me? I haven't even called my family for 10 years."

Gammino is in custody in Spain and Italian police hope to bring him back to Italy by the end of February, Nicola Altiero, the deputy director of the Italian anti-mafia police unit, told Reuters news agency.